


Royally Blue

by NCT



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Actual plot, Humor, Kingdoms, M/M, Romance, Smut, Soulmates, Vampire AU, completely made up world, long-ass story, lots of details lmao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 23:12:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11999925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NCT/pseuds/NCT
Summary: 10 chosen ones, both humans and vampires alike, must unite to fulfill the prophecy to save the world.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I started working on this fic over a year ago, so it's set in the Firetruck era. I'm like really excited to finally start posting it. Also a warning that there's a lot of background information to this story so hopefully I can explain it well. Also, this is a pretty big story, so it's going to have a pretty big cast. Happy reading!

He was wrapped in complete darkness, a suffocating pitch-black that sucked his breath away. Seemingly lying on his back completely paralyzed, he could only see what was in front of him. Nothing. Or so it seemed. Closer and closer he could make out two red glowing dots. Closer and closer. Fear tugged at his heart. They were no dots. Eyes. Red glowing eyes that had no body for the dimness also cloaked the creature that was slowly closing in on him. He screamed. Or so he thought he did, for no sound came out. Closer and closer until the luminous blood red orbs were upon him until all he could see was red. 

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Yuta woke up in a flash, his chest heaving from having held his breath for too long. His entire body was covered in a slick coat of sweat, and his bed was not salvaged from his sweat bath. Yuta sat up in confusion, sure that the banging was not from his dream, but from reality. His suspicions were confirmed when he heard a man’s deep voice shout from outside his door, “Yuta, he’s gone! They kidnapped the prince! We need to leave immediately!” 

Taeil? They kidnapped Taeil? 

Yuta sprang from his bed to rip open the door. Face to face with the prince’s tall, muscular bodyguard, he observed Johnny was just as pale as Yuta felt. 

“What do you mean he’s gone?? Weren’t you outside his door all night??” asked a wide and crazy-eyed Yuta.

Johnny looked down at his feet and muttered something about the bathroom.

Yuta gripped his messy mahogany locks in frustration. “Ok alert Doyoung as I get dressed. Tell him to ready himself and get to the stables as soon as possible!”

Yuta turned back towards his room and dressed in a frenzy. He hurriedly packed the necessities the trip would require and raced through the palace to get to the horse stables. After readying his and everyone else’s horses, he took a necessary breath and finally paid attention to his surroundings. 

It was dawn. The sun had barely risen over the horizon, producing an arrangement of orange and yellow rays that were breaking through the darkness in the sky. The air around him was moist and the grass dewy. The perfect summer morning if it had not been for the prince’s capture.

Not long after his musings, Johnny and Doyoung burst through the stable doors. All three mounted their respective horses, and with a quick strike of the reigns, they bolted out of the stables, across the drawbridge, and through the dusty town roads. 

After reaching the outskirts of the city and finally onto the forest trail, Yuta numbed mind began to unthaw. He needed to make a plan of action before they just burst through their doors like chickens with their heads cut off demanding for them to hand over their precious prince. The only problem was that Taeil was always with Yuta to help him create their strategic actions. This time around, Yuta was alone.

Damn vampires. Yuta tightened his grip on the horse’s reigns. Ever since the Mirotic War in the TVXQ era, the human nation trained a special unit of vampire slayers to defend their country from the vampires, and that’s exactly what Yuta, Taeil, Johnny, and Doyoung were for this EXO era. They were this era’s vampire slayer unit, named NCT. And as soon as King Baekhyun hands over the crown to his son, a new era will begin and will be called NCT until Taeil’s son takes the thrown and so on.

Yuta shivered and pulled his cloak closer to his body. The morning air was still chilly as they raced through the forest path. Two days. It would take approximately two days to reach the vampire’s castle. They would have to make camp tonight to stay fresh for the fight that would take place in the next couple days. 

Hours of speechlessness passed and finally night fell. Yuta signaled for the other two to stop. They needed to find a safe place to make camp. Traveling at night was too dangerous in vampire territory. Vampires had the upper hand because of their nocturnal vision. 

Yuta peered at his comrade’s haggard faces. He finally broke the silence as they traveled into the forest. “I’m sure he’s fine. Try not to worry about it until we reach the castle.” The other two nodded, clearly not convinced. 

They found some flat grassy land big enough for them to lie down on and built a fire. The boys had picked up dead sticks since entering the forest and laid them in a circle in the middle. Once they had the fire going and the horses fed, they all sat down with a sigh. 

“My cousin… he’s such a gentle and kind person. What could they possibly want with him?” Yuta ruffled Doyoung’s blonde head of hair in hopes of calming down his usually talkiative friend.

“I wish I could give you an answer, but I really don’t know. He’s strong, though. No matter what they do to him, I’m sure he’ll come out of it fine.” Yuta continued to console him. 

Since this morning, Johnny had not looked Yuta in the eye, always carefully observing the ground with his long brown locks covering his face. “Yuta.” At long last he met his eye. “I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. I- I should’ve been there. Or else this wouldn’t have happened.” 

Yuta had never seen this side of Johnny before. His friend was usually a funny and carefree kind of guy. Definitely the mood maker of the group. Yuta sighed.  
“It’s no one’s fault. Even if you were there they would have easily overcome you with their surprise attack. Plus, everyone has to go to the bathroom at some point. You’re only human.” 

If Yuta had known this was why Johnny had been acting strange all day, he would’ve told him that a long time ago so the guilt didn’t eat at him the whole ride here. 

Johnny seemed to have digested what Yuta said. He still seemed fidgety, though. “Yuta,” he spoke softly this time. “Do-Do you think we can do this? Save Taeil and have all of us come out alive?” 

Ah, so that’s what it was. This was exactly what Yuta had worried about the most. Vampires were stronger and faster than humans. As professionally trained vampire slayers from birth, they could easily take on a normal red-blooded vampire. The four of them had gone on many missions before, usually to save humans from rogue vampires. But never had they taken on a royal blue-blooded vampire. The royals were at least twice as powerful as the red-blooded common vampires. And where were they heading? Straight into blue-blood territory. 

Real vampires are different from mythical vampires. They age and live normal life cycles, just like humans, and physically they are extraordinarily beautiful and slim with amber colored eyes. 

“You know what.” Yuta lied down in the grass and looked up at the sky. The stars seemed to shine brighter than usual tonight. “What happens… happens. We’ve trained all our lives for this moment. We’ve done all that we can. Taeil knows that. We know that. Destiny will guide us tomorrow. And whatever happens, well… happens.” 

The others followed Yuta’s example and fell on the backs. Yuta heard Doyoung let out a soft “wow” as he also peered up at the sparkling night sky. 

The boys lied there for a while in silence, only the crackling of the fire being heard. 

“I think this is the first time I’ve ever seriously thought about death.” Johnny hesitantly whispered. “It’s kind of… scary. I keep asking myself if I’ve lived a good life? If I would have any regrets? And I think of what I’m most thankful for. The only answer that keeps coming to my mind is you guys. I’m so blessed to have met you and to have been friends with the best groups of guys in the world.” Johnny started getting choked up at the end of his last sentence, and Yuta also noticed Doyoung sit up to hug his legs against his chest.

“Guys. Come here. Let’s sleep together tonight.” Yuta opened his arms for Doyoung and Johnny to come to him. Slowly the two of them scooted over to Yuta. Yuta let out a sigh of relief as he held his closest brothers in his arms. “I love you guys. We’ll be fine tomorrow, so please get some sleep tonight, okay?”

Slowly the three of them lied down and cuddled together with the warmth and love only true brothers could give each other. 

 

Yuta woke up at the break of dawn, relieved he didn’t have his usual nightmare about the red glowing eyes. Ever since he could remember, he had always had the same nightmare. At first it was once every year or so, but as he got older it was becoming to be monthly and sometimes even weekly. 

Sehun had always been there to help him through the nightmares when he was little. Even though Yuta was not of royal blood, he grew up in the castle. When Yuta was a baby, a traveling Sehun had found him on a muddy forest path. Apparently his parents were merchants who traveled from city to city to sell goods. That day they were attacked by a rogue group of vampires. Yuta was left barely alive until Sehun stumbled upon him that one fateful day. 

Sehun was one of the EXO unit vampire slayers from the generation before Yuta and brought him to the King. King Baekhyun took Yuta in and left Sehun to train and care for him. Sehun was his father figure and mentor growing up.

He couldn’t have asked for a better childhood. Sure, he would’ve loved to have had his real parents still living with him, but Sehun did a great job of taking their place, and plus he had the three best of friends growing up with him. Queen Taeyeon also went out of her way to visit him sometimes. 

The only repercussion of that one fateful day was that because he was almost dead when Sehun found him, his heart was severely weakened. To this day he has to take a pill daily or else his heart would fail him. Sehun couldn’t stress that enough.

Deciding it was time to wake the others, Yuta shook them both until they started mumbling incoherently. “Come on guys. We have a long day ahead of us.”

They both seemed to have remembered the situation they were currently in when he heard them both sigh and sit up. They washed up by the nearby stream and ate a bit of dry bread before heading out. 

It was another beautifully chilly morning as they continued on the forest path. Yuta noticed they traveled faster than he thought they would, so their current ETA was sometime later this evening. If all went well, they would sneak in at night, grab Taeil, and put as much distance between them and the castle as possible. Somehow the humans had obtained a map of the vampire’s castle, and Yuta had a copy and was studying it on the ride there.  
About an hour before they would enter the village limits, Yuta had them stop to tell them the plan. There was a sewer system they would be able to enter from the back of the castle. The sewers would lead them to the first floor of the castle. From there they would have to find their way to the dungeon of the palace where they would most likely find Taeil. 

“If we get split up or if one of us dies or gets taken, flee immediately. Don’t feel the need to take revenge because that’s not what we’re here for. Our lives matter the most. Our goal is for as many of us to make it out alive as possible. Promise me this.” Yuta commanded in a more serious tone than usual. 

“But-“ Johnny began.

“No buts. Promise me right now or we’re not moving an inch from this spot.” Yuta stubbornly stuck out his chin.

“Ok.” Johnny and Doyoung reluctantly muttered.

The boys waited until night fell upon them before they left for the city. Yuta didn’t want to arrive until it was late into the night. Even though vampires were more nocturnal than humans, they couldn’t see as well as they could in the daylight. They grew more tense the closer they got until they could see the castle looming in the distance.

Their city was eerily similar to their own. The outer part of the city was the slums, and the closer they got to the castle was where the richer noble vampires lived. They had left the horses outside the city so they could travel with more stealth. They moved from dark alley to dark alley until they got to the castle walls. It seemed their city was a lot smaller than their own. The boys didn’t see a single vampire on their way through the eerily quiet city. 

Yuta led them to the back of the castle walls until he found the sewer grate they were supposed to climb through. Metal bars were blocking them from entering. Johnny and Doyoung looked at Yuta questioningly. 

“Johnny. You and I are going to pull on it at the same time and see if it budges.” Yuta and Johnny were both unnaturally strong for humans. Doyoung wasn’t near as strong, but he made up for it in speed. Luckily, Yuta was graced with both characteristics.

“3 2 1 PULL.” The two fell on their butts as the bars easily slid off the frame of the grate. “Well that was easy. I thought we would’ve had to break it open, but it just slid right off!” The boys smiled and high-fived each other. Things were already looking up for them as they crawled into the sewer. 

Johnny was really tall and broad-shouldered, so it was an uncomfortable journey for the large boy. Doyoung and Yuta easily crawled through the slimy and smelly walls.  
They were on their hands and knees for about 10 minutes before they saw the beam of light from the exit of the sewer. Yuta and Johnny slid the grate off just as easily as they did the first one, making as minimal sound as possible. Yuta poked his head out and realized they were in a community bathroom. He motioned for the other two to climb out as well. 

Swords in hand, they tiptoed to the door. Yuta put his ear up to the hard wood to hear if anyone was on the other side. He heard nothing, so he slowly turned the handle with a sweaty trembling hand and pushed the door open. The boys were now standing in an empty hallway. According to the map, they needed to turn right and then take a left at the nearest turn. Yuta was at the front and Doyoung at the back, checking to make sure no one snuck up behind them. 

A few twists and turns later they made it to the stairs. They started down the stairs until they saw movement. The boys froze and held their breaths. Two guards walked past the bottom of the stairs without even taking a glance at them. Yuta’s heart was beating so hard he could’ve sworn they would be found just from the sound of his own heart beating. A couple seconds later Yuta signaled to continue down the stairs. 

As they finally reached the bottom of the stairs, a hand reached around the corner and grabbed at Yuta’s throat. Yuta yelled out in surprised and swung his sword at the offending hand. His sword missed by less than an inch. The boys backpedaled up the stairs as the two guards gave chase. 

Johnny and Doyoung turned right, and Yuta turned left at the top of the stairs. Both guards went for Johnny and Doyoung, so Yuta went back down the stairs in search of Taeil. Johnny and Doyoung would have no problem handling the two red-blooded vampires. Yuta immediately took a right towards the dungeon. They were already found, so he would have to make a quick search. Yuta raced past with no awareness or care for any other creature in the world except for his best friend, Taeil. He wasn’t leaving without him. 

Those two guards must’ve been the only ones in charge of the dungeon because there wasn’t another soul in sight. Breathing hard with a hammering heart, Yuta reached the dungeon. Empty. It was absolutely deserted. No wonder there was only two guards down there. Yuta was starting to lose hope of ever finding his friend when he ran into Johnny and Doyoung on his way back to the stairs. 

“Did you find him?” Johnny wheezed out.

Yuta shook his head. “The guards?”

“We knocked them unconscious and hid them in that bathroom. Didn’t want to cause any unnecessary deaths.” Yuta nodded in approval at Doyoung’s assessment. Yuta agreed. Killing was a last resort.  
“Let’s continue on the second floor. There’s one more place he might be.” The boys followed Yuta back up the stairs.

If Taeil wasn’t in the dungeon, then he was probably being held in a guest room? At least Yuta hoped. There were two problems with this. The guest room was near the royal’s rooms on the second floor. The second problem was that also meant they were even farther away from their only exit. 

Reaching the second floor was no problem, but Yuta was feeling very jittery. It must be the royal’s power seeping through the walls. He could feel it. Yuta turned to look at the others. They were just as aware and tense as he. But there was one presence Yuta could feel more than the others. He could even pinpoint the source. Yuta felt drawn to it. His heart was telling him to find it while his brain was screaming at him to run. He never remembered Sehun telling him of the possibility of being physically and mentally drawn to a vampire before. This worried Yuta more than anything else. 

Suddenly, they heard shouts behind them. Three red-blooded guards were closing in on them from behind. They were so close! Just another hallway and they would’ve gotten to the room! Yuta was torn. Johnny must’ve seen his friend’s indecisiveness because he gestured for Yuta to go. 

“Yuta, we can handle them! Just go! Find Taeil!” Doyoung and Johnny turned around to fend off the three attackers. Yuta didn’t hesitate for another second. He ran in the opposite direction: closer to the source that had been drawing him in and hopefully closer to Taeil. 

Yuta turned the last corner and immediately stopped in his tracks. A blue-blood. He didn’t have to see his blood to know. Raw power was radiating off of the vampire, but that’s not what stopped Yuta. It was his beauty. Never had Yuta ever seen a being so flawless or intoxicatingly handsome. The vampire had wild frosty white hair that framed his perfect face. He had a bit of a square jaw that was so sharp it would probably cut Yuta’s figure if he ever dared touch it. The most captivating attribute was his gorgeous amber eyes framed by thick dark eyebrows, and his stare was piercingly cold. Yuta felt naked in front of him.

The feeling was even stronger. Yuta was so utterly drawn to the male. But one step closer meant death, so Yuta didn’t dare move. The blue-blood simply stood in the same spot with an unchanging expression. At least a minute had passed before the beautiful male started walking towards Yuta. He was frozen on the spot. What could he do? With just a flick of his wrist the blue-blood could kill him in an instant. 

Yuta could no longer think straight. His instincts were starting to take over. That one dominating instinct fully took over his brain. When the vampire was finally within arms length, Yuta’s hands moved on their own. Yuta grabbed at the taller man’s styled silver hair and crashed their lips together. 

The vampire must have been shocked because it took him a second to respond. His response wasn’t what Yuta was expecting. Instead of flinging him off and killing him on the spot, he started kissing Yuta back, lips moving against his. All other thoughts left Yuta’s mind except for wanting to taste more of the silver haired vampire. 

Even though Yuta had initiated the kiss, the other male was already claiming dominance. He grasped Yuta’s shoulders and thrust him against the wall, pressing the full length of his body against Yuta’s. This turned him on even more, sending heat down to his lower regions. Not wanting to lose completely, Yuta bit down on the man’s lower lip. The vampire opened his mouth at the shock of the bite and Yuta slid his tongue in to taste the inside of the blue-blood’s intoxicatingly wet cavern. 

Yuta had brief make-out sessions with random guys on the streets, but never had they kissed like this or tasted this good. Yuta let out a moan as the vampire assaulted Yuta’s tongue with his. Not a single spot in either of their mouths went unlicked. As the tongue battle died down, the silver male sucked on Yuta’s lower lip, drawing out another mewl from Yuta. This caused the male to grind his hips into Yuta’s. His legs wobbled on the spot, so the blue-blood grabbed Yuta’s perky ass with both his hands to both keep Yuta standing and to rub their hardened lengths together even more. Yuta broke his lips away from the vampire’s to catch his breath, so the vampire took the opportunity to assault his neck instead. 

At this point, the silver male was literally humping Yuta up against the wall while Yuta was lost in all aspects of any thought. Everything felt so good. He had never felt this hard in his entire life. Nothing else mattered. No thoughts of Johnny, Doyoung, or even Taeil could cross his mind now. All that mattered was this beautiful vampire in front of him, lust pounding through his veins. 

Yuta cried out as the vampire picked up speed and sucked on a sweet spot on his neck. He reattatched his lips to Yuta’s to silence his cry. If the kiss was heated before, it was nothing like it was now. Hands were dangerously roaming and cocks were blissfully rubbing. Yuta was close. He was so close. Yuta clawed at the vampire’s back for more friction, and the vampire’s hands wandered underneath the fabric of Yuta’s shirt. Yuta shivered as he ghosted his finger over his hardened nub. The vampire bit down on Yuta’s lip, causing Yuta to finally come with the loudest scream he had let out that night. The silver male didn’t let Yuta go until he too came, and he collapsed in an exhausted heap on the floor of the hallway.

Yuta was suddenly incredibly sleepy. Everything from the past two days had finally caught up with him as he struggled to keep his eyes open. The last thing he remembered were the glowing amber orbs closing down on him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of information coming your way! Please comment if you don't understand something :)

1) “Do you think it’s dead?”

2) “No! And stop poking it.”

1) “Wait why does hyung have a human in his bed?”

2) “Donghyuck, I don’t think we should be in here.”

1) “But Mark~ I want to play with him!” 

2) “Donghyuck-“

Yuta awoke to the sound of a door opening. 

“You two probably shouldn’t be in here,” announced the male that just entered the room.

“Ah! Ten hyung! I can explain! Donghyuck-“ one of the young boys started.

“Let me guess. Your brother sensed the presence of a new human and couldn’t ignore his curiosity? Because that’s exactly something he would do.” Ten stated cheerfully.

The same boy glared at his brother and aggressively nodded his head.

“OH MY GOD HE’S AWAKE!” Shouted the overexcited Donghyuck. 

Yuta immediately sat up and went to grab his sword from his hip but felt nothing but air. He was weaponless in front of these vampires. Yuta felt like a trapped animal. He would have to fight tooth and nail to get out of here.

Realizing Yuta’s situation, Ten quickly explained, “Hey, no worries. We don’t bite. Well maybe little Donghyuckie here might.” He winked at Yuta.

Was that supposed to make Yuta feel better? Because he sure as hell didn’t feel any better. Ten, apparently his name was, was very handsome. Thick dark black locks fit his head like a helmet and ran across his forehead. He seemed cheery with a pleasant smile. This was a vampire? He was obviously a red-blood though.

Yuta turned his head to look at the two young boys by the bed. They both looked to be in their early teens. One had an extremely round face with his hair two different colors. His bangs were an orangeish blond while the rest of his head was a similar mahogany as Yuta’s own hair. The other boy had more of an oval face with a lot of baby fat around his cheeks. His hair was also a brown red. 

What stood out most about the boys was that they were both blue-bloods. Royals. As young as they might be, he could feel their power from where he sat on the bed. Why weren’t they attacking him? Didn’t they want his blood? And why was Ten smiling so much? Did vampires always play with their meal before eating? 

“Dude we aren’t gonna eat ya!” Ten laughed again.

Donghyuck tilted his head in confusion. “Ew why would we eat him? He’s a human, not blood!”

The other teenager facepalmed and Ten rolled his eyes. “Blood comes from humans, idiot.” 

“Oh yea I forgot.” Donghyuck laughed sheepishly. 

Yuta was so confused. That kid was a vampire. How could he just forget he drank blood from humans? 

“Don’t mind the twins. And never listen to anything Donghyuck says. You can trust Mark though. He’s got a good head on his shoulders. I would watch out for Taeyong though. He’s the one that would definitely bite your head off.” Yuta could tell Ten was trying to lighten the mood, but Yuta wasn’t convinced. 

Also, who was Taeyong? 

“Yah! I’m your prince! You can’t just say something like that about me!” Donghyuck puffed out his cheeks and pouted. “Plus.” He turned to look at Yuta. “I want you to call me Haechan, not Donghyuck.” 

Prince? Twin princes?

“Not that again…” Mark started.

“But it sounds cool!” Donghyuck exclaimed with a fist pump to the ceiling.

“Oh, by the way, what’s your name?” Ten had just realized they never asked Yuta who he was.

“Nakamota Yuta. Just Yuta is fine, though.” Yuta mumbled. Ten walked up to the side of the bed the twins were on and stuck out his hand to Yuta. “Well it’s nice to meet ya! I hope we can become friends! We seem to be around the same age. Also, you’ll be seeing me around a lot since I’m Taeyong’s bodyguard and all. Not that he even needs one, but duty calls!” Yuta looked at Ten’s hand for a little longer before hesitantly accepting the gesture. 

Cold. His hands were so cold. Also he had mentioned that Taeyong guy again.

“Who is Tae-“ Ten cut off Yuta’s question by clapping his hands together. “Ah I almost forgot! Before I take you to breakfast, you can wash up in the shower in the other room. There’s also a change of clothes on the bathroom counter you can use. I’ll be back in a half hour to come get you.” 

Ten smiled at Yuta one last time before beckoning for the boys to come with him. Before he knew it he was alone again in the room. 

Just what was going on? How was he not dead? He, a mere human, was alone in a room with three vampires. And never once did they ever seem threatening. He pinched himself. Well, he definitely wasn’t dreaming. 

His cheeks grew hot as he suddenly remembered what had happened last night. Just who was that vampire? Yuta’s eyes widened as he suddenly remembered Johnny and Doyoung. Did they escape? Are they alive? Or are they… No. Of course they’re ok. They have to be…

Not wasting anymore time, Yuta undressed himself and showered off all the sewer grime, sweat, and other bodily fluids. After drying off, Yuta eyed the clothes that were laid out for him to wear. They looked odd. The top was more normal than not. A simple royal blue baggy long sleeve top with a few decorations, but the bottom was the thing that confused Yuta. It looked to be a navy blue… skirt? Is this really what vampires wore? He had yet to see one wear something like this? Well, it’s not like Yuta had a choice anyways. He slipped the skirt on and by the time he got dressed, there was a light knock from the other room.

Ten poked his head through the door, “Perfect! It seems like you’re ready. Let’s get going shall we?” Ten’s radiant smile appeared on his face once more.

Yuta still didin’t completely trust Ten but thought it was the best option he had at the moment.

Yuta walked out to the hallway beside Ten, making their way to who knows where. Ten turned his his head to talk to Yuta but stopped as he finally took in Yuta’s full appearance. 

“Uh… What are you wearing?” Ten was currently trying to stifle his laughter. Yuta looked down at his clothes and shrugged his shoulders. 

“I just put on what you told me to…?” Yuta and Ten both whipped around when they heard someone having a case of the giggle fits behind them. Donghyuck, or rather, Haechan was on all fours slapping the ground, this time laughing from his belly. 

Ten growled, “You little shit! You switched out the clothes I laid out for him with a maid’s skirt!” Yuta immediately blushed and looked down at the offending cloth hanging from his tiny waist. Everything made sense now. 

Ten started towards Haechan, but the perpetrator rushed off in a flash, still hee-hawing down the hallway.

“Sorry about that. I really meant it when I said you have to watch out for him. He loves pulling little tricks like this.” Ten looked back down at Yuta’s skirt. “I’ll be right back with a change of pants.”

It took Ten less than a minute to come back with this time a pair of navy slacks. Yuta slipped into a room to change. Not too long after, Ten and Yuta were once again on their way. Still on the second floor, Ten finally stopped at a door. 

“Go ahead and go in. Breakfast has already been delivered. I’ll see you later, K?” Ten left with his signature grin. 

Yuta sucked in a breath before turning the knob to open the door. Who, or what, was waiting on the other side? He finally pushed the door open and let out a gasp.   
The room was a dainty little thing. Probably a tea room with a single table in the middle, and sitting in a chair right in the middle of it was Taeil. 

“Taeil!! You’re okay!! Oh, thank god!” Yuta rushed to the sitting Taeil and embraced him with all his strength. 

“Yuta! How did you get here? Yes, yes I’m perfectly fine!” a bewildered Taeil hugged his friend back.

“You were kidnapped! Of course we had to come save you!” Yuta exclaimed with teary eyes. He finally pulled back from Taeil to make sure he wasn’t hurt.

“Yuta, seriously. I don’t even have a scratch on me! They’ve treated me really well. Just like a prince, which of course I am!” Taeil tried joking to get his friend to settle down a bit.

Taking his eyes off his prince, he realized they weren’t the only ones in the room. Sitting right across the table from Taeil was another gorgeous being. His hair was jet black. Short on one side and long and swept to the side on the other, covering the majority of his forehead. He had such a perfect, symmetrical face and pretty almond eyes with thick, dark eyebrows. Another blue-blood. Yuta was surprised he didn’t feel him on his way into the room. Apparently his concern for Taeil was too great.

Yuta immediately put his guard up. “Who are you? And why did you kidnap our prince?”

“Yuta settle down! This is Jaehyun. He’s really nice. Now, sit down so we can properly explain everything to you before you take someone’s head off.” Taeil was looking at Yuta will pleading eyes. 

Yuta looked back and forth between Taeil and Jaehyun before pulling up a seat right next to Taeil. No way was he sitting any closer to the vampire than deemed necessary.

Jaehyun smiled for the first time as Yuta sat down. Did all vampires have such dazzling smiles? Before, if looks could kill, Yuta would’ve been dead in a heartbeat, but looking at Jaehyun now he felt no threat.

“We are sorry to have taken your prince without permission, but we meant no harm to anyone.” Jaehyun started. “Ah, forgive me, I have to introduce myself first. My name is indeed Jaehyun.” He sent a gentle smile Taeil’s way before going on. “Son of Jongdae, the younger brother of the crowned King Jongin. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Jaehyun stuck out his hand for Yuta to take. Yuta didn’t hesitate this time before shaking. If Taeil was ok with him, Yuta should be too.

“Nakamoto Yuta. Just a friend of Prince Taeil.” Yuta muttered back.

“He’s the one I was telling you about!” Taeil cut in. “Yuta’s the leader of NCT, our vampire slayer unit.” 

“Ah, I see. Yes, he seems very reliable, indeed.” Jaehyun looked Yuta up and down. Yuta scowled. He wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or a jab as he was currently doing a very bad job at being a vampire slayer.

Jaehyun looked back at Taeil with another dimpled grin. At any rate, he didn’t seem like a bad guy. Taeil was always good with trusting the right people.

“Oh by the way, eat as much as you want. This is all for you since I already ate.” Taeil motioned to the assortment of food laid out across the table. Yuta grabbed a piece of toast and started buttering it as he addressed Jaehyun again. “So about Taeil’s kidnapping…”

“Ah, yes. I was just getting ready to speak to your prince about it. There’s a lot to discuss, so try to get comfortable. I’m not sure how much of our history you two know, so I’m going to try to start from the beginning.” Yuta and Taeil nodded their heads in confirmation for Jaehyun to continue.

“Everything started with the Mirotic War. Actually, it started before that. The Mirotic War took place in the TVXQ era, back when Jaejoong was our king. In that era, Junsu was your king, correct?” Yuta and Taeil nodded their heads in agreement. “Humans and vampires were at peace before that time, actually both races had lived in tranquility for thousands of years. It’s amazing what one war can do to a country.” Jaehyun shook his head in disappointment. 

“The cause of the war is what many don’t know or try to understand. You see, Jaejoong had a younger brother. Yunho had always been jealous of his brother’s power. That he was the king and not himself. One day, Yunho couldn’t take his jealously anymore and attacked his brother. He sucked every last drop of blood from his body. It turns out, if a vampire is sucked dry of all his blood, he turns into a dark being. An immortal creature without a soul is born. A bearer of pure evil. A demon.” Jaehyun shivered slightly. 

“These beings… are strong. Far stronger than red-blooded vampires. Even a blue-blood wouldn’t stand a chance in a solo fight. Demons look similar to regular vampires, with the exception of their purple blood and red eyes. All they seek in this world is death and destruction.” 

Yuta had never heard of these demons. One look at Taeil confirmed Yuta’s suspicions that he never had either. But what did this have to do with Taeil?

Jaehyun continued, “Yunho had no idea what he had created until he, too, was turned into a demon by his brother. To turn a vampire into a demon, a fellow vampire has to suck their corpse dry, but for a demon to turn a vampire into a demon, all they have to do is simply bite them. Similar to a vampire turning a human into a vampire. Just one bite does the trick. Luckily, for whatever reason, demons cannot touch humans. They live in a different realm. Demon’s bodies just pass right through them. Humans are untouchable, but vampires are fair game.”

Jaehyun laughed at Yuta and Taeil’s expressions. Here he was talking about these terrifying creatures, freaking them the fuck out, when in reality the demons can’t affect them at all. 

“Anyways. Yunho and Jaejoong wanted only the best as their companions, which in their case meant the royals. They ran from the castle and devised a plan. They wanted the human king and his brother, and the king of the vampire clan to the north of us. Before Yunho had Jaejoong bite him, he turned the human king and his brothers into vampire so he could suck their bodies dry. Soon the four demons turned into five as they easily overcame the other vampire king. These five are known as “Tong Vfang Xien Qi” or “The Rising Gods of the East.” 

Yuta buttered another piece of toast. He felt the story was long from being over. Even Taeil was starting to pick at the food again.

“Because of the death of the human king and his brother, the humans blamed the vampires. And then the war came. The humans attacked us. We had no choice but to fight back. We tried to explain to them, but they wouldn’t listen.”

“This is where the vampire slayers come in. The humans had always been aware of our overpowering strength, so they secretly created a unit called SuJu, just in case our relationship turned sour someday. We could’ve easily overpowered the humans if it wasn’t for SuJu.”

Jaehyun was shaking at this point. Clearly not wanting to go on with the story. 

“Over half of our population was killed. It was even worse for the humans. So much death for no reason.” 

Yuta couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Over half? That was… over 50,000 people. Over 100,000 if he included the vampire’s deaths. If Yuta had ever asked Sehun about history, he would always shake his head. Yuta and everyone else grew up being told vampires were evil creatures, with nothing to back up their statements. And today he was finally getting the truth. 

“Eventually, everyone was too weak and sick to continue the war, so humans and vampires alike pulled the white flag. Since then, we’ve had no contact with humans. After the death of the TVXQ kings, a new era began, the SuJu era. Jaejoong’s son, Yesung took over the vampire throne, as did Junsu’s son, Donghae, for the humans.”

“After the SuJu era came the SHINee era, and now the EXO era. During all that time, the five demons have been kidnapping vampires from our clans to create a demon army, and we finally figured out why 21 years ago. There was a prophecy. That if a pre-pubescent royal vampire is turned into a demon, he would be an all-powerful being that would be absolutely unstoppable. The fate of the world would literally sit in the palm of his hands.”

“That brings me to the Exodus War. 21 years ago, King Jongin and Queen Krystal had a son. We were attacked by the demons not long after he was born. Many were killed, but luckily the five demon founders did not partake. We were able to fend them off, but Queen Krystal was killed, and the child… To this day not a soul knows what happened to the baby prince. The only thing we know is that the demons did not get ahold of him or else the world would have been destroyed by now.”

“King Jongin was devastated, but like every king should, he remarried to the now Queen Victoria and had the three sons he does today.”

Jaehyun took a deep breath. “And that’s it for the history. Now for Taeil’s kidnapping.”

Yuta was completely shaken, but he was very ready to understand why he and Taeil were here in the first place.

“Our oracle, BoA, produced another prophecy. 10 chosen ones, human and vampire alike, would come together to defeat the five demon gods and save the world. Pretty cheesy, but it’s not something we can ignore because the other prophecy about a pre-pubescent child is still active.”

Ah. Now Yuta understood. Humans refused to make contact with the vampires, so the only way was to take Taeil and hope he would listen. 

Taeil stood up and started pacing. “How do you know who the 10 chosen ones are?” he asked Jaehyun, voice serious.

“BoA, our oracle, is in possession of the very first vampire’s heart. Over time it hardened and turned into what looks like a ruby stone. If a chosen one touches the heart and it glows, then he is a chosen one. We have already found four of the ten chosen ones from just our clan alone. However, we have searched our entire kingdom, so we are assuming the other chosen ones are either human or from the clan to the north of us.”

Taeil stopped his pacing to look at Jaehyun fully. “I understand. Would you mind if I touched the stone? Yuta too.” 

Yuta’s eyes widened. “Wha-“

Jaehyun clapped his hands together. “Splendid!”

Taeil continued, “I’m sure the other two vampire slayers in our unit would-“

A deep voice broke through Taeil’s, “you mean these?”

Yuta felt him before he saw him. He whipped around in his seat and found the silver-haired blue-blood standing in the doorway, carrying Johnny and Doyoung on his shoulders like sacks of potatoes.

The cocky bastard made eye contact with Yuta and smirked before dropping his friends on the ground. 

“Taeyong, did you really have to drop them like that?” Jaehyun snapped. 

So this guy was Taeyong? The one Ten warned him about? Oops.

“I found these rats sneaking through the sewers trying to get back into the castle this morning. And plus, they’re already unconscious. Giving them another bump or two won’t hurt.” Taeyong snickered as he looked at the two lumps on the ground.

“You fucker-“ Yuta began, but Taeyong once again interrupted, “it seems your language is just as dirty as you were last night.” 

Yuta squeezed his fists and started towards Taeyong. “Yuta! Stand down!” Taeil cried out. Even though Yuta was the leader of NCT, Taeil was still his prince. Yuta was absolutely livid. He didn’t know what he expected from the guy he made out with last night, but it certainly wasn’t this. He suddenly felt dirty. Tainted by this disgusting being, but even knowing Taeyong was a complete bastard, Yuta was still drawn to him like no other. 

“Tch.” Yuta spit out.

It seemed the fall to the floor knocked Johnny and Doyoung back to reality because they were stirring awake on the floor. 

“How about we let them rest a bit before proceeding with the stone.” Jaehyun addressed Taeyong. It wasn’t a question, more like a statement. Taeyong gave Jaehyun a curt nod before turning heel and slamming the door shut.

As soon as Taeyong left, Jaehyun let out an apologetic sigh. “Sorry about that. The prince can be somewhat of a handful.” 

“PRINCE? Er- I mean, prince?” Yuta was absolutely flabbergasted. It made sense though. Jaehyun did say Queen Victoria had three sons: Taeyong and the twin brothers. “So Taeyong is the crowned prince?”

“Don’t worry, he’s actually a pretty warm-hearted guy. He’s just not good with new people. You’ll see.” Even Jaehyun didn’t sound convinced by his own words.

“Taeil? Yuta?” Johnny started sitting up with Doyoung following suit.

“I’ll let you guys catch up a bit before we do anything else.” At this Jaehyun left the room, but not before getting a good look at the blonde that was nursing his wounds on the floor.

Johnny and Doyoungl were just as surprised as Yuta when they noticed Taeil. After patching up and feeding their friends, Yuta and Taeil took the rest of the afternoon to explain everything Jaehyun had discussed with them. 

“Well damn.” Johnny let out when everything was finally said. “I guess everything kind of makes sense now. It’s no wonder no one would ever teach us about our history. It’s because they didn’t even know the truth.” Johnny let out a laugh and mumbled, “stupid bastards.” 

Doyoung just stared at his hands. He was usually a man of many words, but he was being abnormally quiet today.

“Alright so when are we gonna touch this magical stone thingy or whatever?” Johnny looked at Taeil for an answer.   
Yuta had a sudden thought. “Wait… did anyone tell the king where we were? Of all the things we don’t need another war.”

“Don’t worry I already wrote a letter to my father saying everything was fine before you came in the room. They sent it by owl for me.” Taeil informed them.

“You know, it’s weird. All our lives we’ve considered the vampires our enemies when in reality they’re no such thing. It’s going to take awhile for me to get used to it. To not have to fear for my life every time I see one.” The vampire slayers nodded at Yuta’s words. 

“I agree. I’m still trying to wrap my head around everything.” Taeil added.

The boys started drifting off one by one as they waited for Jaehyun’s return. Yuta was the last one to start drifting when they finally heard a knock on the door.

“Ready?”


	3. Chapter 3

Jaehyun softly closed the door as he left the room. He figured he would allow the humans some time to rest before proceeding with the plans. 

“You know,” Jaehyun began when he found Taeyong casually leaning on the wall with his arms crossed, not far from the door. “The next time you’re feeling horny you should take it someplace other than the hallway. I think you woke up the whole castle with your antics. Have you no self-control?” Jaehyun wearily eyed his cousin.

Taeyong glared at Jaehyun and bit back, “He started it.” 

“Oh and you weren’t man enough to stop it then?” Even though Taeyong was two years older, teasing him always amused Jaehyun. It was always so easy to crawl under his skin and so he continued. “What? Does the big bad vampire slayer already own your ass?” 

Taeyong pushed himself from the wall and started walking in the opposite direction, so Jaehyun pursued. 

Because Taeyong knew Jaehyun was following, he carried on. “You don’t understand. There’s something wrong with that guy. I have this feeling.” 

“Aww are you already in love?” Jaehyun asked in a cutesy voice.

“God damnit, Jaehyun, I’m being serious here.” The two continued walking with no destination. “You know how vampires have mates? Well… It’s that feeling. Except stronger. And yet for some reason it feels suppressed.”

“Hyung if you’re thinking that human is your mate then that’s impossible. Vampires don’t mate with humans. You know that. We all know that.” Taeyong finally stopped at the stairway and turned to look at Jaehyun.

Jaehyun stumbled when he saw the look on his cousin’s face. “You’re being serious aren’t you? You really think he could be your mate.” 

Taeyong raked his hands through his shiny silver hair and huffed. “Look. I don’t know what this is, but last night… I couldn’t control myself. He started kissing me and I wanted him just as much. I can still feel his presence from here. And it really pisses me off.”

“Ah yes, when you aren’t in control of a situation you freak out. It’s no wonder you were being a complete asshole to the humans back there. Especially Yuta.” Jaehyun sassed.

Taeyong rolled his eyes at his cousin for knowing him so well. “Whatever.” 

“You’re gonna be in deep shit if he ends up being one of the 10 chosen ones.” 

“Actually.” Taeyong raised his eyebrows at his cousin, “I’m not the only one. Don’t think I didn’t see you giving that bunny the googly eyes back there. You don’t pull out those dimples for just anyone.” 

Taeyong felt the urge to pat himself on the back after witnessing Jaehyun turn a dark shade of red. “I- I don’t know what you’re talking about.” This time it was Jaehyun’s turn to walk in the opposite direction. 

Taeyong laughed out loud at his defeat over Jaehyun before heading down the stairs.

 

 

“Ready?”

It wasn’t just Jaehyun that arrived to pick them up.

Johnny spotted Taeyong behind Jaehyun and pointed, “Yah! That’s the bastard that knocked us out!”

Taeyong’s expression turned sour as he shouldered past his cousin. “That bastard is the prince, and I could easily knock you out again if need be.” 

“Johnny, do please calm down.” Taeil was of course on damage control duty as usual with Johnny’s big mouth.

Taeyong’s eyes slid from Johnny to Yuta. Yuta refused to be the first one to look away. No matter how cold the prince’s gaze was, he wasn’t backing down. 

Taeyong tired quickly of their game. “We’re wasting time. Let’s go.” 

The two blue-bloods led the way as the four vampire slayers followed suit. The group was in the middle of climbing the staircase to the fourth floor when a group of kids came rushing at them.

“Taeyongie hyung help me! I don’t want to be it!” One of the kids shrieked as he jumped at Taeyong. There were other squeals of ‘Jaehyun hung!’ as more kids appeared.

Taeyong easily caught Donghyuck with a small grin and put him on his shoulders. Mark was standing off to the side watching as the other three children hid around Jaehyun. 

Jaehyun knelt down and ruffled the youngest child’s hair with a warm smile. “Jisung, are you guys playing tag again?”

Jisung nodded, “Mark hyung is it!” 

The other two were tightly holding onto Jaehyun’s legs. 

Yuta and the others were in a state of shock. First of all, Taeyong smiled, albeit a small one. Second, the three children Yuta had never seen before were human. Third, Donghyuck and Mark were also human? He didn’t feel the presence of their powers, and their eyes were a dark brown instead of amber. 

Taeyong must have noticed at the same time as Yuta, “MARK! I specifically told you and Donghyuck not to take those pills!” Taeyong was pissed. Donghyuck attempted to jump off Taeyong’s shoulders but to no avail.

Taeyong continued his lecture, “Those pills last for 36 hours! What if the castle gets attacked? What’re you going to do then? You’re as weak as a human!”

“B-but hyung, it’s only fair when we play with Jisung, Jeno, and Jaemin. They can’t catch us unless we take the pills. It’s more fun this way.” Donghyuck tried to reason with his older brother.

“Mark, I’m looking at you. I expect this from Donghyuck, but not from you. You know better.” Tears were brimming in Mark’s eyes. “Go to your room. I don’t want to see you or Donghyuck until you’re both back to normal again.” 

This time Donghyuck was able to slip off Taeyong’s back. Both Mark and Donghyuck ran past the rest of the group in the direction of their bedrooms. 

“How about you guys go back to your parents, okay?” Jaehyun sent the three human children on their way.

“Uhhh how were they suddenly humans?” Yuta couldn’t subdue his curiosity any longer.

“You must have met them already.” Yuta inclined his head in confirmation when Jaehyun answered. “Let’s continue walking as I explain.” Jaehyun sided next to Yuta as he told him the mystery of the suddenly human vampires. The other vampire slayers were listening intently.

“It’s kind of a long story, but there’s this healer from the northern vampire clan. Yixing often visits when he comes up with new remedies. The pill Taeyong was talking about is one such remedy he created many years ago. The ability to turn a vampire into a human for 36 hours.” Jaehyun shrugged. “It’s simple, really.”

Doyoung’s eyebrows furrowed as when he does whenever he seriously thinks about anything, “Let me guess. These pill’s objective is to allow you to move around freely in human territory.”   
Taeyong butted into the conversation. “Wow, this one is actually smart.”

Before Johnny or Yuta could say anything rash, Doyoung brushed off Taeyong’s comment and continued, “Also, what of the human children? Why are there humans here?”

Jaehyun put a comforting hand on Doyoung’s shoulder. “No worries. We didn’t kidnap them or anything.” 

This time it was Taeyong’s turn to explain. “They are from families that were attacked by rogue vampires. We nurse the humans that survive back to health, and we give them a safe place to live here in the castle. In exchange, they give us their blood. Vampires need to eat, too.”

“So you don’t take them against their will?” Johnny grit his teeth.

“Of course not. We are not the beasts you humans have stereotyped us as for the past hundreds of years.” Jaehyun calmly tried to clear up the misunderstandings.

Taeil peered up at Jaehyun with a kind smile. “Thank you for being patient with us. There is so much we do not know or understand yet.”

Taeyong humphed in response, and Jaehyun, who was watching Doyoung rather intensly, seemed to not have heard Taeil

Yuta didn’t like the way Jaehyun continued to give Doyoung looks but wasn’t worried enough yet to say anything.

“We’re here.” 

The boys entered the room in a daze. A thick misty fog filled the room, and the faint smell of lavender made its presence. In the middle of the room was a pedestal that held a fist-sized ruby stone: the first vampire heart. 

Three figures broke through the fog opposite them. 

“Hyung! This means we’re all here then?” The cheerful voice that broke through the fog came from Ten, Taeyong’s bodyguard. Ten turned towards the humans, and that’s when he spotted Yuta. Ten ran up to Yuta and gave him a big hug. Yuta was surprised, not as much by Ten’s hug than Taeyong’s growl. 

All heads turned towards Taeyong. Jaehyun expression seemed extremely amused, but Ten was a mix of confused and scared. Ten slowly backed away from Yuta, keeping his eyes on Taeyong’s tense figure. Jaehyun elbowed Taeyong, and Taeyong snapped out of whatever state he was in. For the first time since meeting the prince, Yuta could see a light blush cross his handsome face.

“Er- Well- Um- I’m Ten. It’s nice to meet the rest of you.” Ten’s smile faltered as he greeted the others.

Ten appeared to have recovered a bit as he went to introduce the other male vampire in the room. “And this is Hansol.” 

To Yuta, Hansol seemed like the least intimidating vampire in the room. Light, sandy blonde with tufts of hair sticking out messily covered his head. The vampire had wide eyes that looked a bit nervous at meeting the vampire slayers. 

Hansol’s mouth twitched into a mini smile. “Nice to meet you.”

“Most importantly, this lovely lady is BoA, our valuable oracle.” The last figure finally stepped out of the shadows to where they could finally see her.

If Yuta was asked what a goddess looked like, he would describe the female vampire standing right in front of him. 

BoA’s hair was a wavy chestnut brown that came down to the small of her back. Her perfectly oval face showed off her beautiful youth and lips lifted in what could be a permanent smile. Her calm and soothing voice raised the hair on the boys’ arms. “Hello. My name is BoA, and I have been the oracle for the southern vampire clan for many of thousands of years. To quench your curiosity, I was granted with immortality at birth, and the heart you see there was my mate’s. Pleased to meet you.”

Well that one of hell of a way to introduce yourself. Yuta wondered what could possibly happen next and shook his head in disbelief.

“You four are here today to touch the stone. These four vampires you see here,” she opened her arms to take in Taeyong, Jaehyun, Ten, and Hansol, “are the four chosen ones from our clan. We are in hopes you four will also join their ranks. Dark times are ahead of us, and only the chosen ones can clear away the darkness and bring light to our world.”

Taeyong was a chosen one? Yuta suddenly wanted nothing to do with becoming a chosen one. 

“Prince, shall we start with you?” BoA beckoned for Taeil to come to the middle of the room. Yuta didn’t even want to ask how she knew Taeil was a prince.

Taeil took a deep breath and carefully tread towards the stone. He turned to look at BoA one last time before placing his hand on the stone-turned-heart. Dazzling red light burst from the stone, lighting up the entire room. Taeil was surprised by the sudden light and immediately leapt away from the pedestal, ending the light show in less than a second.

“Welcome to the crew!” Jaehyun clapped Taeil on the back in congratulations.

Doyoung and Johnny followed after Taeil with the same shocking result. 

Yuta was the last to go. What if he wasn’t a chosen one? He was technically the only human here that didn’t belong in a castle in the first place. Was this the end of the road for him? Or was this the start of his destiny? Yuta was one touch away from finding out.

Yuta could feel Taeyong’s piercing gaze as he walked up to the pedestal. Heart beating wildly, Yuta reached out to touch the smooth stone. An explosion of sapphire light broke out from the heart. Many gasps were heard around the room. He retracted his hand, and the room was once again dim. 

“What does this mean?” Taeyong’s voice split the air. 

BoA’s voice wavered. “I- I do not know. No human has ever had this reaction with the stone before.”

“So far only Taeyong and I have manifested blue light from the stone. At first it was thought that it was because we are blue-bloods, but that certainly can not be the case with him. No human turned vampire can ever turn blue-blood. Not even royal humans.” Yuta looked down at his hands after listening to Jaehyun’s reasoning. There was no way he was a vampire; that was for sure. So why was his light blue?

“I do not have all the answers, only time does. We will have to wait for the right moment to understand this phenomenon.” The boys all nodded their heads at BoA’s wisdom. 

BoA turned to Taeyong and recommended, “For now, though, you should discuss with the humans their options.” 

Options? Yuta cocked his head in confusion. Options for what? Whether they wanted to be chosen ones? Did they even have a choice in the matter?

BoA bid them farewell and disappeared into the thick fog. 

Taeyong sighed. “Let’s get out of here. This place gives me the creeps.” 

Johnny happened to stand next to Ten as the eight chosen ones quickly filed out of the room. “Wow you’re so short,” he stated as he rested his arm on the top of Ten’s head.

The little red-blooded vampire looked up at the bold human and blushed. He removed Johnny’s arm from his head. “So?” he asked with a pout. 

“Aw, so vampires can look cute, too?” Johnny winked at Ten. 

The poor vampire was flustered. “Are you hitting on me?” 

Johnny smirked at this. “Maybe?” Ten looked away.

Yuta had been paying close attention to Johnny and Ten’s little squabble. “Johnny keep your hands to yourself. You just met the poor guy. Try not to traumatize him just yet.”

“Bite me.” Johnny sassed back.

Yuta just simply shugged and nodded his head in Ten’s direction. “That’s his job.”

Taeyong entered the conversation as they made their way into a spacious room that had a large circular table assembled with chairs. “Speaking of biting, we have other things to discuss.”

The guys sat at the table and looked at Taeyong as he talked.

“You humans have a choice that will greatly affect you for the rest of your lives, and it is this. Are you willing to transform into vampires?” Gasps were heard around the table from the humans. 

Taeyong eyed the sources of the gasps. “Now hear me out before coming to a decision. I’m sure you’ve heard just how powerful the demons are. You would stand no chance in your current forms. It is for the sake of your lives and the rest of the world’s that you choose to become a vampire.” 

Yuta peaked at Taeil. He was the one he was most worried about. Someday in the future Taeil would take his father’s place as the king. How would the humans react to their king being a vampire? Taeil currently had a lot on his plate to think about. 

Johnny suddenly stood up and fearlessly announced, “I’ll do it.” He made sure to confidently look everyone in the eye to convince them he was being serious.

When he met Jaehyun’s eyes, Jaehyun decided to warn, “It will be painful. You’ll live in a burning hell for about 24 hours before the transformation is complete.”

“Pffft as if that’s gonna stop me.” Johnny sat back down and crossed his arms over his chest with a glint in his eye.

“I’ll do it if my cousin also decides to,” Doyoung quietly spoke up. All eyes were now on the prince.

Taeil was deep in thought, as was Yuta. Give up their humanity? Become the very things they grew up training day after day to kill? It had been less than 24 hours and so much had happened. Yuta suddenly felt very tired.

Taeil spoke slow and deliberately. “If- If I choose to transform… Would I be able to borrow a lifetime amount of those pills the kids used to become humans? I have a kingdom to rule, and the only way I would allow myself to change into a vampire is if my people did not know.” 

“Of course. That would be no problem. We can inform Yixing right away to start making another batch.” Jaehyun comforted Taeil with delicate smile.

Taeil nodded his head. “Then I have decided. I will give up my humanity for the sake of the world and my future kingdom.”

“Could I have more time to think about it? This is a lot to wrap my head around.” Yuta directed his question at Jaehyun, but it was Taeyong that responded.

“Decide by tomorrow. We have no time to waste.” Jaehyun hit Taeyong in annoyance and responded to Yuta’s question. “Ignore him. Take all the time you need. We understand this is a big decision for all of you.”

“I think the way we’re going to do it is like this. Because you’ll need someone to look after you in the midst of your transformation, we’ll have each of you pair up with one of us. You can stay in our rooms over the 24-hour period. The bite is very, how should I say this, intimate? Tonight when you are ready, just come to our room and we’ll go from there.” After Jaehyun’s explanation, the atmosphere in the room turned awkward. 

Taeyong cleared his throat. “Because you guys will be here for awhile, we’ll provide you with a room and clothing. If you ever need anything just come find one of us.”

“Ten. Show them to their rooms and make sure their dinner is delivered to them. We look forward to seeing you tonight.” Taeyong met Yuta’s eyes for a brief second before dismissing them to their rooms.

As Ten was leading them to their rooms, it was obvious he was trying to avoid Johnny by sticking to Yuta’s side. 

Before leaving them to dinner, Ten spoke up. “By the way our names are on our doors, so hopefully you won’t have a hard time finding us.” Ten gave them his signature cheerful smile and disappeared down the hallway. 

The slayers all gathered into Taeil’s room where their dinner was laid out for them. Yuta hungrily ripped into a chicken leg as soon as he sat down. The others were just as desparate for food. Once their tummies were full and plates empty, they discussed the process for tonight.

“I get shorty.” Yuta face palmed at Johnny’s announcement.

“I think I would feel most comfortable with Hansol, to be completely honest,” Taeil shyly admit.

“Jaehyun.” Doyoung hurriedly spoke.

“Sorry, dude. Guess you got the ice prince.” Johnny sympathetically patted Yuta on the back.

Great. Just great. Yuta banged his head on the table. 

“By the way, does Prince Taeyong have something against you? He seems to really hate you in particular.” That was his prince: always the observant one. However, there was no way in hell Yuta was telling any of them what happened that first night with the bastard. He’d never hear the end of it from Johnny. Nor was he going to tell them he wouldn’t mind having another round. As much as he hated the guy, he was still just as drawn to him now than he was last night.

Yuta just shrugged in reply. 

The boys eventually headed to their own rooms after bidding good night and a ‘see you on the dark side’ from Johnny.

Yuta sat on the edge of his bed with his hands cradling his head. A vampire. It’s not like he really had a choice, anyway. He would be the weakest link. He didn’t want to bring everyone else down just because he wanted to keep hold of his humanity. 

Yuta’s mind then turned to his mentor and father figure, Sehun. What would he say in this situation? Yuta still had so many questions about everything. The demons, the prophecies, the chosen ones… Knowing Sehun, he would just tell him to follow his heart. Well, it was hard for Yuta to follow his heart when his head was screaming Taeyong every two seconds. 

He mulled everything over and over in his head before finally coming to a decision. It was time.

Yuta took his sweet time searching for Taeyong’s room, which, in his opinion, he found all too soon. Heart pounding, Yuta stood outside staring at his door for a little longer than necessary. At last, after taking a deep breath, he raised a shakey fist and knocked on the door.


	4. Chapter 4

Yuta knocked for the 5th time. The bastard was taking his sweet time answering the damn door. After the failed knock, Yuta put his ear up to the door to listen for any signs of movement inside the room. Nothing. 

“Looking for me?” hot breath assaulted his neck from behind. Yuta spun around and found himself face to face with the ice prince, their noses touching. Aware of his lack of personal space, Yuta backed up until his back was flush with the door, Taeyong in pursuit. Taeyong raised a hand, but instead of touching Yuta, he turned the knob to open the door. Yuta, unaware Taeyong was opening the door, fell backwards into the room and landed on his ass from the lack of door to keep him upright. 

Yuta glared at the smirking vampire that was looming over him. 

“I think this view is more fitting, you below me.” Yuta scoffed at Taeyong before getting to his feet. 

“Asshole,” he muttered as he dusted off his pants. 

As Yuta straightened, he fully realized he was alone in a room with Taeyong. It wasn’t that Yuta was afraid of him, it was the spark in the atmosphere he was worried about. Last night’s actions flashed across his mind as the two men stood staring at each other, only mere feet away from the other. He was just as attracted and drawn to him as the night before, even more so they were secluded in a room. Looking at Taeyong’s eyes, he could tell he felt the same, his eyes filled with lust. Yuta began to wonder if this was normal when Taeyong stepped forward and around Yuta to his bed. 

Yuta followed Taeyong’s every movement with his eyes. Taeyong looked back at Yuta, “If you’re sure about your decision then get your ass over here, I just want to get this over with.” 

He hesitantly took a step towards the bed, where the vampire was impatiently waiting. 

“Get on the bed,” he ordered Yuta. Usually Yuta would snap at being ordered around like a dog, but his nerves were starting to get to him. He obediently crawled onto the bed.

“Shirt off.” 

Yuta opened his mouth to retaliate, but Taeyong beat him to it. “How the hell do you expect me to bite you with your shirt on, idiot.”

Yuta grit his teeth and gracefully pulled off the blue sweater Ten had given him earlier. Goose-bumps immediately erupted all over his skin due to the chilliness of the room. Yuta looked to Taeyong for more instructions, but he seemed to be in his own world, conflicted with himself, clenching and unclenching his fists. Realizing he was stalling, Taeyong drew in a frustrated deep breath and met Yuta’s eyes. 

“Lay down.” So Yuta lied down, keeping a weary eye on the blue-blood. Taeyong reached the bed and started crawling towards him. Yuta suddenly felt like Taeyong was a carnivore seeking out his prey, named Yuta. The closer Taeyong got to him, the harder and faster his heart beat. If he was honest with himself, part of it was excitement, not fear. Soon Taeyong was on all fours, limbs surrounding Yuta. 

Yuta wondered if the lust was just as evident in his eyes as they were in Taeyong’s. Taeyong’s eyes moved from Yuta’s eyes to his neck, and he started bending down. Yuta could feel Taeyong’s hair tickle his chin as he bent forward. Taeyong nuzzled his neck, took in a giant sniff, and moaned. There was a twitch in Yuta’s lower regions.

“You smell so good, and I fucking hate it,” he heard Taeyong mumble into the juncture of his neck and shoulder. 

And then Yuta felt it, Taeyong sank his sharp teeth into his fragile skin. It was Yuta that moaned this time. What they both didn’t expect was that it was a moan of pleasure, not pain. And so Taeyong sucked. 

Yuta felt a pleasure like no other, a strong wall of lust immediately slammed into his body, pumping into his blood and flowing through the rest of his body. He was already rock hard. The more Taeyong sucked, the louder Yuta’s moans and the more he squirmed underneath the vampire. 

Without any warning, Taeyong pulled away, a mix of lust and confusion on his face. “Why aren’t you in pain? Why aren’t you burning up on the inside? This isn’t what should be happening.”

Yuta couldn’t hear anything Taeyong was saying; he was in a drunken daze. All he wanted was that feeling of immense pleasure again. Ignoring Taeyong’s dilemma, Yuta sat up and captured Taeyong’s lips with his own, wrapping his arms around his neck and bringing him back down on the bed with him. There was no hesitating on Taeyong’s part to kiss back; he had wanted this all day.

Yuta brought attention to his throbbing dick by rubbing it on Taeyong’s thigh.   
“Taeyong,” Yuta whimpered. Taeyong smirked into the heated kiss. He was going to have so much fun with this. 

Realizing Taeyong wasn’t going to help his situation, he reached for his own dick, but Taeyong slapped away his arm and secured it above Yuta’s head.

“You can only touch when I let you.” Yuta whined in disappointment and need, bucking his hips up for friction.

Taeyong continued savaging his lips, nipping and licking until he tasted everything he could reach with his tongue. He detached their lips and moved down his neck where he had bit him not too long before. Yuta gasped and shuddered in pleasure as Taeyong licked the bite mark. 

Yuta felt Taeyong move down to his nipples, where he nibbled and sucked, twisted and pulled, leaving Yuta writhing and crying out for more. His dick was in so much pain from not being touched he thought it might explode.

Taeyong moved even lower, leaving bruises and a wet trail down his stomach, past his navel, and towards Yuta’s most sensitive area. 

Finally separating his mouth from Yuta’s body, he sat back on his haunches and took a good look at the beautiful mess he had made out of Yuta. Yuta was struggling to breathe, and now that Taeyong was no longer giving him pleasure, he desperately tried to touch his dick again. Before he could reach his throbbing penis, Taeyong’s lips attached themselves to his length. He briefly wondered when and how his pants had been removed but immediately brushed the thought aside as he screamed as the pain turned into heated pleasure, his eyes watering in relief. 

Taeyong licked his slit, salty with the taste of his pre-cum, and followed the throbbing vein down to the base of Yuta’s penis with his tongue. Tired of teasing, Taeyong wrapped his lips around the head and sucked. He took Yuta’s length, all the way to the base, hallowed his cheeks, and started moving at a steady pace. If Yuta was loud before, it was nothing compared to now. Taeyong was sure the whole kingdom could hear Yuta’s screams. The more Yuta squirmed, the faster Taeyong sucked, until he could taste Yuta’s cum in his mouth. With a satisfied swallow, he crawled back up to the spent boy and kissed him one last time.

Yuta was barely conscious at this point. As Taeyong got off the bed, Yuta touched the bite mark on his neck. Before he fell asleep, he vaguely remembered thinking something wasn’t right. Taeyong left the room.

 

Hardly 2 hours into Doyoung’s transformation, Jaehyun heard a knock at his door. Confused, he left the chair he was sitting in by the bed to answer the knock. Everyone knew the transformations were going on, so who could possibly want him right now?

It was Taeyong; a very disheveled Taeyong. 

“Wh-“ Jaehyun began, but Taeyong immediately cut him off.

“It didn’t work.” Jaehyun could easily tell Taeyong was slightly panicked on the inside but refused to actually show it on his cold face.

“What do you mean it didn’t work?” 

“I bit him, but instead of pain he felt pleasure.” Taeyong frustratingly ran a hand through his silver hair, looking to Jaehyun for answers.

“You mean he reacted to the bite like a vampire?” Jaehyun furrowed his eyebrows at his cousin.

“And he’s not even transforming. Almost like he’s already a vampire.” Taeyong accused.

“Taeyong, there’s no way. He’s a human and always has been. Where is he now?” Jaehyun looked behind Taeyong towards his room, wondering if he was still in Taeyong’s room.

“He’s in my bed unconscious.” Taeyong quickly muttered, not making eye contact with Jaehyun. “And don’t ask.”

Holding his head in his hand in irritation, Jaehyun rasped, “Can’t you keep your hands to yourself for at least 2 seconds? My god that’s two nights in a row! You treat him like shit yet you attack him every chance you get!”

Taeyong grabbed Jaehyun by the collar, “I fucking told you he’s the one that started it! And like I said,” he quickly let go of his cousin, “There’s something weird about him that makes me very attracted to him in an instinctual way.”

“Not this mate shit again-“ 

“Forget it.” Before Taeyong completely lost his temper he turned heel and slammed his way back into his own room.

Jaehyun simply shrugged his shoulders and softly closed the door, hoping he wouldn’t wake the feverish Doyoung. 

Sitting back in his chair, he took Doyoung’s tiny hand into his and rubbed the back of his hand with his thumb.

“Everything will be ok, I promise.” 

Red. All Yuta could see was red. 

Waking with a start, he realized he had his nightmare again. Twice in one week is more than usual. He immediately forgot about the dream as he looked around the room. The memories from the night before came flooding back to him. 

He looked at his arms, his bare chest, felt his face, but he didn’t feel any different. Wasn’t he supposed to be a vampire now? Yuta leaped out of bed in search of a mirror. Finding one in the bathroom connecting to the room, he closely examined his face. Nothing. Absolutely no difference. He went through all that shit last night with Taeyong for nothing. 

Yuta could feel his cheeks heat up at the way he begged for Taeyong, the way he moaned and wiggled underneath him. Talk about embarrassing. Face palming himself, he went back out to collect his clothes before he left the room. Luckily, he was able to reach his own room before he could run into anyone in the hallway. He washed up, put on new clothes, and took his daily pill before going out to get answers and food.

If Yuta remembered right, the map had the kitchen on the first floor. As he reached the stairs, the twins came running past him. Before they could get out of reach, he grabbed onto Mark. 

“Hey, where’s your kitchen at? I’m hungry.” Yuta let go of Mark as soon as he had their attention. 

Mark wearily looked around; certainly making sure they didn’t get caught by Taeyong for being out of their rooms before transforming back into vampires. “Uh-“

“We’ll show you! Just follow us!” Apparently Donghyuck wasn’t as afraid of getting caught as Mark. 

Mark gave Donghyuck a look, but Donghyuck waved him off, “Come on, Mark! We can go see Jaemin! He works in the kitchen with his mom.”  
Ignoring Mark, Donghyuck took Yuta’s hand and led him down the stairs. Mark shook his head and silently followed behind the duo.

“Are you one of the 10 chosen ones?” Donghyuck peered up at Yuta with shining, inquiring eyes.

“I guess so,” Yuta shrugged his shoulders.

“How come you’re not a vampire then?” The kid gave him a perplexed look. 

“I actually don’t really know.”

“Who was the one that bit you?” Man this kid was full of questions. 

Yuta grit his teeth, “Your brother.” 

Donghyuck stopped in his tracks and stubbornly stuck out his chin. “There’s no way Taeyong hyung bit you. He would never fail at something! He’s the crowned prince and my big brother! He’s the best at everything!”

“Donghyuck, that’s enough.” Mark entered the conversation.

After many twists and turns they finally entered the kitchen.

“Jaemin!”

“Donghyuck! Mark! I thought you guys were in trouble!” a kid Donghyuck’s size but with a wide, radiant smile ran towards them.

“Nah, hyung’s just been really moody ever since the humans showed up.”

Yuta raised his eyebrows. Interesting. 

“You better not hear your brother say that,” a new voice warned.

The boys turned around to find Jaehyun rounding the corner.

A chorus of hyung! rang out as the boys darted over to one of their favorite hyungs. Jaehyun smiled at his little attackers and looked up to focus on Yuta.

“I’m supposed to be in charge of you but didn’t realize you had already woken, sorry about that,” Jaehyun apologized before continuing, “Taeyong is in a meeting with his father discussing our next steps, so you’re stuck with me for the day.”

Not caring at all about Taeyong’s whereabouts, Yuta wanted to know how the others were. “How’s Taeil? Or the others?”  
“How about we get you some food and discuss everything later?” Jaehyun offered.

Not long after Yuta was fed, Yuta found himself walking with Jaehyun in the courtyard. It had been awhile since Yuta had been outdoors. Soaking in the sunlight, he looked around at the colorful array of flowers that decorated the area. 

“Taeyong’s mom loves flowers. Sometimes, when Taeyong travels, he’ll often bring back a new type of flower to surprise his mom with.” Jaehyun chuckled when Yuta whipped his head up in surprise.

“He doesn’t seem like the type.” All Yuta could envision right now were his smirks and glares that he was always on the receiving end of.

“He’s just frustrated right now. He doesn’t understand you. I’ve honestly never seen him so riled up before. You’re truly an enigma.” 

That answered one of Yuta’s questions. The bite was supposed to work but had clearly failed, and what were those instinctual feelings he always had when he was around the silver-haired bastard?

“When I left Doyoung, he was just finishing up his transformation. He did really well.” Jaehyun had a small smile on his face that Yuta felt was not for him but Doyoung. “He’ll just need to rest for a while.” 

“And the others?” Yuta saw Jaehyun shrug his shoulders.

“As far as I know, they’re doing just fine, too. You’re the only one that had any trouble.” 

Yuta kicked a rock off the stone path they had been following. Of course it would be him. It’s always him. However, he would rather him be the one with the worst luck rather than his friends. What was he to do, though? He would be completely useless! What’s the point of being part of the 10 chosen ones if they always had to protect him?

Sensing that Yuta was upset, Jaehyun wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. There’s a reason you’re one of the chosen ones. We may not know why right now, but everything will unfold in the future, good or bad.” Yuta was really starting to like Jaehyun. He wasn’t so bad for being a vampire; he was honest and trustworthy. He couldn’t exactly say the same of his cousin.

 

The next morning, Yuta woke up peacefully for the first time in many days. Or so he thought he was going to.

Before Yuta could haul himself out of bed, someone was banging on his door. Not a second later, Johnny came bursting forth into his room, all smiles. Yuta had to do a double take. It was Johnny, right?

His friend seemed slimmer and more angular, his skin a pale white. What threw him off the most were his amber eyes. He was indeed a red-blooded vampire now. Yuta was too busy inspecting Johnny to realize Johnny’s confused expression.

“Hyung, did you not do the transformation? I thought we all agreed…?” Johnny stood frozen at the door, eyes scrutinizing Yuta’s appearance.

“It failed. We don’t know why, but it didn’t work.” Yuta’s eyes were downcast. It was so embarrassing to him that he was the weakest one now, where he used to be the strongest of them all.

Doyoung was the next one to barge into Yuta’s room. “Taeil just woke up.”

All three of them, with Yuta still in his pajamas, ran to their prince’s room. His hair stuck up in all directions from sleep, but ignoring the bird’s nest on his head, his transformation was also successful. Taeil was small before, but he seemed even tinier, more fragile. Yuta, however, knew that wasn’t the case. 

His eyes landed on Yuta, disappointment evident on his face. “Taeil, it’s not what you think.” And Yuta explained what had happened, excluding the sexual stuff, of course.

They all jumped when Ten appeared at the doorframe. “After you guys wash up, I’m going to take you guys down to feed since it’s your first time.” Remembering there was a human in their presence, “Oh and Yuta, we’ll have your breakfast brought to your room.”

After Ten left, heavy silence filled the air. Yuta knew. This is the way it was going to be from now on. For everything: eating, training, fighting, etc. He would always be the odd one out. Not wanting the others to witness his loneliness due to his plight, he quickly left the room to begin his day.

Once breakfast had been had, Ten once again gathered them up. “The chosen ones are all meeting with the King and Queen to discuss our next plan of action.”

On their way to the throne room, Johnny stuck to Ten like glue. It wasn’t just Johnny anymore, but neither one could keep their hands off of each other, always teasing and bickering. Taeil and Yuta knowingly shared a look and smiled.

Upon entering the throne room, the four were dazzled on first glance. Beautiful crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Rows upon rows of golden seats filled the enchanting room. At the end of the red carpet were the Kind and Queen in their respective seats. Their chairs were inlaid with hundreds of gems. This room and all the riches in it could feed an entire kingdom. It was easily the fanciest room in the entire castle that Yuta had laid eyes on. 

Taeyong, Jaehyun, and Hansol were already standing in front of the King and Queen as they walked in, bowing in respect. Looking up from his final bow, Yuta took in the royal’s appearances. Even though Yuta knew they were at least in their mid 50’s, they didn’t look a day older than 20. It seemed even though vampires had the same life cycle, they did not age.

King Jongin, like his son, was extraordinarily handsome with thick lips and icy blonde locks. Queen Victoria was the most beautiful woman Yuta had ever encountered. Her petite face and long brown hair were a truly a sight to see. It’s no wonder Taeyong turned out the way he did. 

When it was Yuta’s turn to introduce himself, he noticed the Queen was glaring at him. Concerned, Yuta looked around to see if he was doing anything wrong, but no one else noticed. He turned back to the Queen, but she was now choosing to ignore him. Perplexed, Yuta stepped back with the others.

After the introductions were made, King Jongin got down to business. “Now that we have found 8 of the 10 chosen ones, it is now time to search the northern vampire clan. You 8 are to take the heart to find the final 2. I have no doubts in my mind that you will find them there.”

The King shifted in his seat and looked at his son, “Taeyong, as the Prince, you are in charge. I have already notified King Yifan that you will be coming. Yixing has made more batches of medicine for the human, well once human prince, to take home with him.”

Taeil bowed and quietly thanked the King.

“The sooner you find the last chosen ones, the sooner you can train together to learn how to fight against the demons. Please travel quickly and safely. You are dismissed.” 

As soon as they exited the throne room, Taeyong turned to all of them and announced, “We’re leaving at dawn. You’ll be left behind if you’re late. That is all.”


	5. Chapter 5

True to his word, Taeyong led the group out of the stables as the sun peaked over the horizon, creating a beautiful mix of yellow and orange in the early morning sky, slowly pushing away the darkness of the night. 

Yuta pat his black mare in-between the ears, thankful the silver-haired vampire had the decency to send guards to fetch their horses. 

Once they were outside the castle walls, Yuta was able to inspect the vampire’s city clearly for the first time. The roads were stone clad and lined with an assortment of shops and houses. Only a few red-bloods were out and about, considering the time of day. When they recognized the vampire prince, they stopped to respectfully bow as the group passed by and resume their daily tasks when they were out of sight. 

It wasn’t until they rode out of the city when Johnny asked a question that was on all their minds, “Where’s shorty?” 

From the front of the formation, Taeyong hollered above the thundering of the horse’s hooves, “He’ll catch up.” 

Yuta looked to the right at Jaehyun for answers, who only smiled. “Don’t worry. This happens all the time. Ten isn’t very good at getting anywhere on time.” Upon hearing the explanation, Johnny worriedly started looking behind his back more and more often. 

Before they mounted the horses, Taeyong had shed some light on the riding arrangement. Taeyong, as the leader, rode at the front by himself. Behind him, in a row of three, were Taeil, Yuta, and Jaehyun. Yuta tightened the reigns in frustration, remembering how Taeyong explained that because Yuta would be the easiest to pick off, he should be surrounded to eliminate that risk. Doyoung and Hansol rode behind them, and Johnny was alone in the back. Yuta guessed Ten would ride beside Johnny when he caught up to them later on in the day. 

Supposedly, according his royal pain in the ass, the roads that led to and from the two vampire clans were far more dangerous than those that led to the human kingdom. Over the hundreds of years, quite a few blue-bloods were exiled from the kingdom for treason, who were now rogue bandit leaders, waiting for the very day to extract their revenge on the royals.

Yuta huffed in annoyance. Just because he was the only human here didn’t mean he was the weakest link. He didn’t need to be treated like a child. He was the leader of their vampire slayer unit! Hell if he didn’t know what he was doing! As if the prince knew he was glaring daggers at the back of his head, he peaked back at Yuta and smirked before picking up the pace as they hit open road. “Bastard,” he muttered.

The ride was long and hot, only stopping to use the restroom. Today was one of the hottest days since summer hit. Yuta lost count of how many times he had to wipe the sweat from his eyes, of how many times he almost slipped out of the saddle from the sweat that pooled underneath him. However, it seemed he was the only one having these problems. Out of curiosity, he stretched out his hand to touch Taeil’s arm; it was cool to the touch, perfectly smooth with no hint of moisture.

Taeil furrowed his eyebrows at the touch and looked at Yuta in concern, “Are you okay? You look like you’re drowning in your own sweat.” 

It was true; even Yuta’s hair was flattened from the moisture that was pooling from his scalp. He had run out of water long ago but didn’t want to have to stop just because of his humanly needs, not wanting to see the sneer cross Taeyong’s face since he was the one slowing them down. Yuta knew he was being stupid but had too much pride.

Yuta looked away too quickly in an attempt to hide his desperate need for the precious clear liquid. Too quick to stop him, Taeil reached out and grabbed the canteen that hung at Yuta’s side. With a quick shake, Taeil threw the canteen back at Yuta with enough force to knock Yuta out of the saddle. He didn’t register he was as dizzy and lightheaded as he was until he realized he couldn’t control his body as he fell out of the saddle.

Shouts were heard from Doyoung and Johnny as they witnessed Yuta’s fall, causing everyone to stop. Taeyong immediately leapt from the saddle to stand by the fallen boy’s side. Assessing the situation and coming to a quick conclusion, he briskly picked up the empty canteen and headed into the forest towards the stream that paralleled the road they had been taking. Drunkenly grasping at what Taeyong was doing, Yuta shakily stood up and yanked the canteen from Taeyong’s grip, almost tripping over his own feet in the act. 

Not even bothering to look behind him, he treaded forward, disappearing into the jungle of trees. “Stupid water. Stupid Taeyong,” he muttered as he pressed on.

Almost ten minutes later he finally found himself at the stream they had told him about previously. Yuta sighed as he slid onto his knees and dunked his head into the water. Never had water or its coolness ever felt so good; he needed more. He opened his mouth in invitation but came to the surface spluttering as something pulled on his boot. 

Not quite refreshed but his head a little clearer, he realized he was surrounded by three red-bloods he wasn’t familiar with that were all brandishing weapons his way. If he was in perfect condition, he could easily take on all three by himself, but as it currently stood, he was in trouble.

Kicking away the hand that was still on his leg, he grabbed his sword and leapt at the bandit with a snarl. Said bandit easily ducked away and fell back with the other two. Yuta eyed the bandits, trying to come up with a strategy. Should he stay and try to fight or run back to the others and have them help take care of them? 

Once again, his pride kicked in as he attacked with the swing of his sword. Easily blocked, they started their swords play. Yuta had the upper hand, but as soon as it looked as if Yuta would win, another bandit swung at him, causing him to jump away. They were back at square one and Yuta was worse for wear. He had yet to drink any water and his vision was getting more and more blurry, his head fogging up to the point that he was blindly swinging at whatever entered his eyesight. 

How many of them was he was fighting now? Did they just double in number? He could swear they were six of them now. Legs wobbling like jelly, he took a step forward but cried out as he felt a searing pain in his arm; he had been struck. Trying to back away, his foot slipped on a wet rock that protruded from the stream. Yuta was half in and half out of the stream as they advanced on him. 

As his vision faded from a dull fog to almost black, he made out a different form coming towards them from the forest. Great, another red-blood to enjoy watching his death. Barely able to see now, he focused on the energies surrounding him. 

That was no ordinary red-blood; it was a blue-blood. How could he have missed the tremendous pressure of that vampire’s power coming towards them? Oh, but was no ordinary blue-blood, either. In the back of his brain, he could feel the familiar pull, the desire to go towards the blue-blood. 

All Yuta could hear were blood-curdling screams and the tearing of flesh, but that didn’t keep him from blindly searching for the source of his attraction. Moments later, the screaming stopped, but the lust he felt was getting stronger and stronger the more he moved. Mind not thinking, he hunted for flesh with his raised hands. 

He felt a chest. Reaching higher, a face and a pair of lips. A delicious-feeling pair of lips that Yuta so desperately needed on his. Right as Yuta leaned in for the kill, the vampire struck the pressure point in Yuta’s neck and he saw black.

 

Jaehyun watched in amusement as Taeil threw the bottle at Yuta but was immediately concerned when Yuta easily slid out of his saddle, unable to keep himself upright. Stopping with the rest of the company, he watched the events unfold until Yuta disappeared into the line of trees. 

Everyone looked around at each other wondering what the heck was going on until Taeil told Jaehyun, “The idiot’s dehydrated but didn’t tell us he ran out of water because he didn’t want to slow us down.” 

“And that’s your first in command? Pathetic,” Taeyong spat out and sat on a fallen tree truck on the side of the road in wait. The others followed his example.

Not five minutes after Yuta’s departure, the outline of a person on a horse could be seen coming towards them on the road. After a tense couple of minutes, they could make out Ten’s form.

Johnny turned to Doyoung and announced, “You owe me $10.” 

Doyoung looked to the sky and grumbled, “Damnit,” as he fished in his pocket for the money.

“Did you seriously bet on when Ten was going to catch up to us?” Taeil eyed the two gamblers.

“I guessed before sunset and Doyoung said after,” Johnny explained with a wolfish grin.

Taeil laughed, “Doyoung, I don’t even know why you try, you’re terrible at any kind of game.” 

“This wasn’t a game! We were just betting!” Doyoung protested with puffed cheeks that Jaehyun deflated with a poke of his finger.

Taeyong rolled his eyes at the banter, “Well congratulations, you suck at that too.”

The boys waved Ten down as he drew near. Face mixed with guilt and anger, he dismounted his horse, “What’re you guys waiting around for?” 

Johnny quickly answered, “Well, short stuff, Yuta-“ 

“Ouch! What the fuck?” Taeyong hurdled off the log clutching his arm and clenching his teeth in pain. Not two seconds later, realization flashed across his face, and the boys watched as he sprinted into the forest in Yuta’s direction. 

“Do you think…?” Doyoung trailed off, waiting for an explanation.

Jaehyun spoke up, “Yuta’s fine. I’m not completely sure what’s going on, but if Taeyong needed us he would’ve told us.”

Jaehyun watched as Doyoung worriedly bit his lip, eyes searching for the answers that hid behind the forest trees.

They didn’t have to wait for long. The blue-blood emerged from the forest carrying an unconscious Yuta bridal-style. 

Before he was stampeded by questions, he hurriedly satisfied their distress, “He was attacked by a few red-blooded bandits. He’s fine except for a small cut on his arm. What got him in the end was his dehydration; he ended up passing out before I got there.”

Doyoung ran up to Taeyong to look at Yuta for himself, but instantly backed away at the growl that the blue-blood emitted from his chest.

“Taeyong!” His cousin demanded his attention as Doyoung was in a slightly dangerous situation. Taeyong whipped his head from Doyoung to Jaehyun at the sudden yell, growl disappearing. Jaehyun seemed to have successfully shaken Taeyong out of the protective state he was in. 

After a few awkward seconds of silence, a very pink Taeyong grumbled, “He rides with me.” 

Not wasting anymore time, the silver-haired vampire climbed onto his horse with Yuta still in his arms. Jaehyun motioned for the rest of the boys to follow as Taeyong once again set a steady pace down the long, winding road.

 

Yuta opened his eyes, or so he thought he did because everything was still very dark. His eyes quickly adjusted and he made out a yellow glow coming from not too far away near his feet. He was about to sit up when he felt fingers softly playing with his hair. Trying to figure out the position he was in, he determined that his head was lying on someone’s lap. Yuta didn’t panic for even a second; he was so unexpectedly warm and calm and felt so very safe. It would be a shame if he ever had to move; he hummed in contentment.

The fingers froze to a stop. Without warning, his head hit the ground with a dull thud and the warmth that had once surrounded his body was ebbing away from him. Wincing in pain, he sat up to nurse his head from the dull throbbing. Looking around himself, he saw that the boys were all sitting around a small fire, quietly nodding off, necks bent and eyes droopy. The only one that was wide-awake and alert was the asshole that was glaring at him from across the fire. Yuta suddenly had so many questions.

Reaching out and jostling the unsuspecting prince awake, Yuta whispered, “Hey. Taeil. What’s going on? Where are we? What happened?” As far as Yuta could remember, he had left the group in search for water and now he was here in the dark.

Taeil slowly blinked the sleep from his eyes and accusingly looked for the perpetrator that had broken his sleeping spell. His eyes widened and he spluttered, “Yuta! You’re awake! Thank god!” Taeil hesitantly wrapped his arms around his best friend all the while making sure Taeyong wasn’t going to attack him for touching Yuta. Taeyong continued to glare but didn’t budge from where he sat. 

It seemed Taeil’s spluttering had broken the sleep bubble that was affecting the rest of the members as they stirred awake. 

While shoving bread and cheese in his mouth, Yuta shook his head in disbelief as the boys one by one recounted the events that had happened earlier in the day. Taeyong saved him from bandits and carried him on his horse the rest of the way? And if Yuta was right in guessing, Taeyong’s lap and fingers were the ones he woke up to. Yuta must be dreaming. Yep. Very much dreaming. 

To test his theory, Yuta shakily stood up and wobbled over to where Taeyong sat. Yuta stared him down before turning around and dropping himself into Taeyong’s lap. After a couple seconds of no reaction from the prince, Yuta wiggled his butt to get into a more comfortable position and leaned his back into Taeyong’s chest. 

There it was. He was once again engulfed in cozy warmth that he had grown very fond of in just the past hour. Yuta came to the conclusion that he was most definitely dreaming. There was no way in hell Taeyong would ever let him sit in his lap so easily. 

Yuta shuddered as hot breath assaulted his neck. Man, this felt pretty real for a dream, he thought. Soon, a pair of lips met the curve of his ear.

“What. The fuck. Do you think you’re doing?” Yuta’s stomach dropped at the dark iciness in the blue-blood’s voice. Looking around his self or the first time, the boys donned pale faces and bulging eyes, clearly worried for Yuta’s safety.

His first instinct was to run, but icy cold hands snuck around his waist, trapping him in a death grip. 

Taeyong closed in on his ear once again, “You know. I haven’t eaten yet today, and I know just how much you like getting sucked.” Yuta turned a dark shade of red, praying to whatever gods were listening that the others hadn’t heard what Taeyong said.

Taeyong’s lips connected to the back of Yuta’s neck but stopped when Jaehyun loudly cleared his throat to remind the prince that there were multiple spectators. 

Taeyong sighed and shoved Yuta off his lap. Still red in the face, he staggered back to Taeil’s side. 

Taeyong stomped out the fire and warned, “Get to sleep. We have another day of riding ahead of us and we leave at dawn.”

Yuta rolled his eyes. What was with him and dawn? 

Jaehyun had the first 3-hour shift watch and Ten the second and was to wake Taeyong at the first light. 

Still exhausted from the day’s events, Yuta slipped easily into a deep sleep.

 

The next day was pretty uneventful, save the random glares the ass-wipe would give him at every opportunity. Yuta had to hold himself back from sticking out his tongue; he didn’t want to cause another scene like the one last night. His ears turned red at the memory.

By mid-afternoon the company was able to spot the castle far into the hazy distance, but it wasn’t until evening that they reached the city gates. Unlike the other vampire’s kingdom, the Northern clan’s gates were closed and kept under guard. 

Reaching the doors, two guards stepped up to receive the group. “Good evening Prince Taeyong, we have been expecting you.” The other guard peeked at the rest of them and counted.

“All eight are accounted for. I’m glad to hear there were no casualties. The roads get rowdier and rowdier by the day,” the red-blooded guard remarked with gloom in his voice. 

Taeyong nodded in agreement and the guards opened the gates for them to enter the city. The first thing Yuta noticed was how packed the roads were of people. Actually, it wasn’t just the roads, the houses, stores, markets, etc. were jam-packed right next to each other. All the clutter distracted Yuta from his exhaustion of the day’s ride. 

The closer they got to the castle, the more grandeur and spaced out the buildings became, and the vampires were no-longer dressed in dull colors, but very saturated and beautifully decorated clothing. 

Outside the castle wall, a royal procession was there to meet their company. The boys dismounted and followed Taeyong’s lead in bowing to what Yuta assumed was King Yifan and Queen Amber. The King’s stature was similar to Johnny’s: tall and wide-shouldered, but King Yifan’s facial features seemed piercingly cold. His smile said otherwise. The Queen’s appearance took Yuta by surprise: her black hair was chopped short with blonde highlights, and she had an attractive, wild sort of appearance as if she couldn’t be tamed. 

Off to the side was an innocent-looking pretty blue-blooded boy with bright pink and yellow hair, whose limbs seemed abnormally long. Holding his hand was a devishly handsome brunette red-blood that looked like he was up to no good judging by the smug smile on his lips. 

That must be the prince… and his boyfriend? Yuta assumed. 

From behind the couple, Yuta saw two smaller boys poke their heads out from behind the men in front of them. One of which was definitely up to no good; a blue-blood with tufts of thick, wavy blonde hair. The kid’s resting face seemed impish, as if he was constantly planning his next victim and how to make their life miserable. The other was a dark chocolate haired red-blood that seemed just as innocent as the strawberry-lemonade haired blue-blood, seemingly still missing a couple of his teeth.

Before he knew it, they were being ushered into the castle and shown to their rooms by the guards. The guards showed them four different rooms, all right next to each other, and apologized that they didn’t have enough rooms for all 8 of them. That meant two to a room and they were, of course, free to choose their partner; which was no problem for Yuta, he could just room with one of his friends.

By the time Yuta turned around to claim Doyoung, Jaehyun had already grabbed onto his hand and pulled him into the nearest room. Ok, no problem, he’d room with Johnny. Too bad Johnny already held an unhappy Ten bridal-style in his arms as he made his way into their own room. Maybe Taeil? Yuta looked around. Hansol and Taeil were already gone. Fuck. That left… 

Yuta ran and grabbed ahold of the guard’s arm that was walking away and begged, “There has to be another room, right?” 

The guard smiled and shook his head in apology. “You’re lucky to have 4 rooms to be honest. We’ll be back in an hour to take you to supper.” The guards once again left Yuta in the hallway, still on his knees. 

There was a sudden tug on the back collar of Yuta’s shirt, and he realized he was being dragged backwards. Too busy sulking to care about his current predicament, he made no move to stop the tugging. As soon as he was fully in the room, the door was slammed to a close. 

“You’re pathetic, you know that?” Taeyong frostily bit out. 

“I’m not pathetic, I just have really bad luck, apparently. I had a 6 in 7 chance and of course I ended up with you.” Yuta stood up and snapped back. He went to dump his baggage onto his bed but looked around confused.

“Why is there only one bed…?” Yuta asked through clenched teeth. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Taeyong shrug. “I guess you can have the floor then.” 

Oh hell no. This was not how this was going to work. “Oh, so you get the bed, huh? What? Because you’re a prince? We should play a game so it’s fair and square.” 

Taeyong crossed his arms and grinned evilly, “And what game do you propose, oh mighty human?”

“Uh…” 

“To be honest, I don’t think it’ll matter because I’m better than you in all aspects, mind and body.” With every word Taeyong spoke, the more aggravated Yuta became.

“King of the bed.” Yuta spoke up. He had no idea where the idea came from or why he said it, but it was too late to take it back. 

Taeyong licked his lips in anticipation, “Perfect.”

And so Yuta found himself standing on the king-sized bed facing the most annoying pain in the ass he had ever met in his life; the most attractive pain in the ass if he was perfectly honest. 

After bickering for a few minutes about whom should say go, Yuta declared, “1-2-3-GO!”

Yuta aimed for the chest, but Taeyong was quicker, much quicker. Shit! He forgot Taeyong was no ordinary vampire! Abandoning his first attack, he hastily sat down and tried kicking Taeyong’s legs out from underneath him. That didn’t work, either. In retaliation, Taeyong kicked at Yuta and connected, almost knocking him clean off the bed. It would’ve worked, too if Yuta hadn’t latched himself onto one of Taeyong’s legs. 

“God damnit, let go! What’re you, a sloth? Get off of me!” Taeyong tried shaking his leg to shake Yuta off, but Yuta was firmly fastened on. Taeyong’s butt hit the bed so he was on the same level as Yuta. Yuta took the opportunity to push Taeyong with the leg he was attached to. It almost worked, too if he didn’t roll in the opposite direction, farther from the edge. 

Yuta disengaged himself from Taeyong’s leg and held onto both edges of the bed with his hands and feet as if he was a starfish. Taeyong stood back up and grabbed onto Yuta’s waist as if to pull him up off the bed, but it seemed Yuta was really good as staying latched onto things. Taeyong tightened his grip on his waist and heard a small squeal escape from Yuta’s lips. Yuta’s eyes widened in terror and Taeyong’s lips broke out into a wolfish grin.  
Taeyong attacked and Yuta squealed, his fingers dancing underneath Yuta’s shirt, creating a very intense tickle-fest across his sensitive flesh. Yuta wiggled, shimmied, and wobbled in an attempt to fend off the Taeyong’s tickles. Tears and shrieks were erupting from Yuta’s body until he couldn’t take it anymore. Yuta flipped around, laughing, sobbing, and laughing some more. By this point, Yuta had the giggle fits and couldn’t stop, not that Taeyong had stopped tickling by a landslide. 

No longer just tickling his sides, Yuta’s entire body was victim to Taeyong’s playful fingers: tummy, armpits, neck, thighs, and feet. Through the tears, Yuta could see Taeyong genuinely smiling. It turns out laughter really is contagious. In the middle of examining Taeyong’s smile, the door banged open with 6 bodies piling into the room. The two boys immediately sat up, startled out of their game. 

“We heard Yuta screaming and came to make sure everything was okay,” Jaehyun breathed out. He took in the messed up sheets, their tousled hair, and sweaty skin and turned beat red. The others boys got the same drift and slowly backed out of the door until they were all gone and the door completely shut again. 

Without warning, Taeyong kicked and Yuta went tumbling off the bed.

“Looks like I get the bed tonight.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had 6 chapters for this story already written, so I hope y'all have enjoyed them! I'm hoping to post a chapter weekly, so the next chapter should be up sometime next weekend ^^

After washing up, Yuta sulked in a chair in the corner of their shared room for the better half of the hour they waited for the guard to show up. Once gathered, the guards led them to the dining hall where the royals ate for special occasions. 

Yuta’s eyes trained on the splash of reds and golds that lit the room. The royal family was already seated, and after bowing, they, too were gestured to sit down as well. Taeyong sat across from the King at the end of the long rectangular table. The rest sat accordingly. 

Waiting until the chairs were filled, the King suggested with an attempt at a smile, “Why don’t we introduce each other?” All 13 heads nodded in agreement.

“I am King Yifan, son of Minho, of the Northern vampire clan. Some call us the Chinese clan for short. It’s nice to finally meet you all.”

“I am Queen Amber, welcome to our home, and I hope you manage to enjoy yourselves during these difficult times.”

Yuta shifted in his seat. The next two vampires were the ones he was most interested in. 

Cutely wiggling in nervousness or excitement, Yuta wasn’t sure, the blue-blood spoke softly, “Hello, my name is Sicheng, son of Yifan, and um…” The boy looked up as if he had forgotten a script he had memorized and tapped his nose in thought. The King’s eyebrow twitched. It seemed Sicheng was a bit of an airhead. 

The boy next to him put a hand on Sicheng’s other hand that was lying on the table and spoke in his place. Sicheng gave him a thankful, cute smile. “I am Kun, fiancée of Prince Sicheng, please excuse the prince. He’s really pretty but a bit dumb. Kun playfully nudged his fiancée in the shoulder, causing the other smile once more. 

All eyes were now on the small blue-blood. He made quite a show before his speech, crackling his knuckles, leaning back in his chair, and casually crossing his feet on the table. The King face palmed but said nothing, probably used to his son’s personality over the years. “Yo. The name’s Chenle and that’s my dad,” He pointed to the King at the end of the table. “And this is my best friend Renjun. Oh mai god. Haha. Renjun’s so cute!” 

Yuta was definitely right in assessing the kid; he had quite the personality. Yuta hoped Donghyuck and Chenle would meet someday and destroy each other. Talk about an epic battle.

Lost in his train of thought, Yuta almost missed the next kid’s introduction. “Um,” he wrung his hands in uneasiness. “M-my name. I-I mean. I’m Renjun, brother of Kun, nice to meet you all.” Yuta was pretty sure the poor kid was looking at the ground the entire time. Because Renjun was sitting right across from Yuta, as soon as Renjun looked up, Yuta sent him the biggest, brightest smile he could muster. Renjun saw and shyly smiled back. He was already quite fond of this kid.

Taeil, too, smiled at Renjun in encouragement before starting his introduction. “I am Prince Taeil, son of Baekhyun, thank you for letting us stay with you.”

Because everyone in the room already knew Taeyong and Jaehyun, the next to go was Yuta.

“Hi! I’m Yuta, son of Sehun, and Taeil’s unit captain.” He ended with a bright smile but soon frowned when he saw the King slip the Queen a worriedly confused glance when he mentioned the name Sehun. It wasn’t just the King though, all the vampires around the room sent him weird looks, Taeyong most intensely of all.

Too worried about his own introduction, Yuta didn’t realize Johnny and Hansol had said theirs until the King was giving them permission to dig in.

For the first time, Yuta realized human food was set out only before him and that everyone else had golden goblets filled with blood. Too hungry to be bothered, he tore through the turkey, stuffing, and vegetables that were laid out for him to eat. 

Taeyong, like usual, kept glaring at him, but these glares were somewhat different. It was like he was trying to look into Yuta’s soul, looking for answers that Yuta probably didn’t know the answers to.

Once supper was had, the King brought up the central focus of their visit: the 10 chosen ones. “It was brought to my attention that only 2 more need to be found and that they are most likely to be found in my kingdom.” Taeyong inclined his head. 

“I think it would be smart to start with these four here,” Taeyong gestured towards Sicheng, Kun, Chenle, and Renjun. “There’s a strong possibility that the 2 come from royal blood.” 

“You brought the heart, I expect?” At the King’s question, Taeyong dug out the heart from his pocket and unwrapped the cloth that bound the crystallized heart.

With the cloth between Taeyong’s hands and the heart to avoid setting it off, he set the heart on a small pedestal that a guard had brought to the hall. All 14 of the company gathered around the pedestal in wonder. 

“Renjun?” The King motioned for the small boy to go first. 

Shaking every step of the way, he hesitated before touching, but when he did there was no reaction from the stone. Realizing he was not one of the 10, his knees wobbled in relief, and he fell to the floor hands and knees first. Kun chuckled and lifted his brother back up to his feet.  
Chenle didn’t wait for anyone to tell him it was his turn; he confidently strutted up to the heart, tapped it once, and strutted back with his chin held high. “Oh mai god, Renjun, neither of us are gonna fight demons! We can play together forever now!” 

Everyone chuckled at the boy’s innocence before putting on a more serious face as Kun started towards the stone. It would set them back greatly if the remaining two weren’t part of the prophecy. 

Kun took in a deep breath and slowly breathed out before placing a hand on the stone. The room lit up in a magnificent ruby red color. He was one of the chosen! They clapped in relief. One down. One to go. 

All eyes were on the pink and yellow prince, who looked just as nervous as the little Renjun. Kun took his hand and helped him walk up to the heart. When they reached the pedestal, Kun let go, not before whispering words of encouragement in his ear. Sicheng looked to his father, muttered a quick apology, and finally touched the stone with the tip of his pointer finger. Sapphire light broke through the heart. It was the only time Yuta had seen the blue light since his own encounter with the stone. 

Both King and Prince broke out in wide grins as they embraced each other in celebration. All 10 were found! They could finally move onto the next stage and start training together.

Straightening up and composing himself once more, the King turned to Taeyong, “Now that you’ve found all the chosen ones, what is the plan?” 

“We go back to my kingdom to train those who do not already know how to fight demons. There’s not much we can do after that but to wait for their attack.” 

“The youngest twin has yet to hit puberty, I’m assuming?” The King shifted his gaze to Chenle, who casually had an arm draped over Renjun’s shoulder. “We were lucky with Chenle that his puberty came so soon. Is Donghyuck showing any signs at all?”

Taeyong sighed and shook his head before replaying, “Absolutely nothing. His fangs haven’t even started growing in yet.” 

“That’s too bad,” the King murmured. 

A few minutes of gloomy silence passed until Taeyong cleared his throat and addressed Sicheng and Kun, “We leave at dawn so try not to be late.”

The King clapped his hands together as he spoke his final word for the night, “Well, you all have had a long trip, and I’m sure you’re ready to rest, so be safe tomorrow and get a good sleep tonight.” 

The King and Queen left the room together with the little ones following after them.   
“Why is he human?” Kun bluntly asked Taeyong as he pointed to a surprised Yuta. 

Taeyong scoffed, “That’s one of many questions you’ll have when it comes to that thing.”

Did Taeyong just call him a thing? A thing?? Two could play at that game.

“Ha, well that thing,” Yuta pointed to Taeyong, “failed. He had one job and fucked it up.”

Kun raised his eyebrows at Yuta’s impertinence while Sicheng had a small grin appear his face. If looks could kill, Yuta would’ve burned up on the spot from the laser beams radiating from the ice prince’s eyes. 

Kun started walking towards Yuta, “Have you had anyone else try? I could-“ Taeyong cut off Kun’s speech with a low growl. Kun stopped a foot from Yuta and whipped his head around to look at prince, surprise evident on his face. 

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware that you two were mated,” he admitted looking back and forth between Yuta and Taeyong. 

Jaehyun let out a loud bark of laughter and the tips of Taeyong’s ears turned red. “They’re not mated, not even close. I think hell would have to freeze over before that happened.” 

Kun opened and shut his mouth before deciding on what to say. “Then why…?”

“Honestly we all wonder the same thing, so don’t kill yourself trying to figure it out.” Jaehyun said through giggles.

Taeyong humphed and crossed his arms, not believing this conversation was actually happening. “Anyways, let’s get to bed.” He pointed to Ten. “Don’t be late again.” Ten smiled, small crinkles forming around his eyes. 

“You don’t need to worry about him, he’s got me this time.” Johnny winked at the small, flustered vampire. 

Taeyong rolled his eyes, “Whatever. Just don’t be late.” And with that, Taeyong stormed out of the room without a backwards glance.

“He hasn’t changed one bit,” Kun sighed, gazing softly at the door Taeyong had just gone through. 

“So he’s always been a pain in the ass then?” Yuta snarkily asked.

A small, quiet voice came from the Chinese prince, “I wouldn’t say it quite like that. Ever since the 10 chosen ones prophecy came to being, he’s kind of gotten worse. He was always a cold guy, but lately you never really know how he’s going to be.”

“And you’re not helping things,” Jaehyun pointedly told the curious human. “But Taeyong’s right. We need to get to bed.”

Minutes later, Yuta found himself in front of the door to his room. Yuta had pleaded with Doyoung to let him stay in the room with him, but Jaehyun was very adamant about not letting that happen.

“Stupid Jaehyun. Stupid Taeyong,” he pouted.

He knew Taeyong was in the room. Yuta could feel him. Yuta could always feel him. Groaning in defeat, he entered the bedroom. Thanking the gods that Taeyong was in the bathroom, Yuta hopped onto the bed and pulled the sheets over himself. No way was he sleeping on the ground. 

Not too long after, Taeyong came out of the bathroom, not happy to find a certain someone in his bed. Yuta peeked over the comforter to find a steaming Taeyong with hands on hips, feet most likely tapping on the ground from annoyance. 

Yuta watched as Taeyong walked to the foot of the bed. His eyes widened as Taeyong reached under the covers and grabbed his ankles. With a quick yank and a howl of pain, Yuta once again found himself ass-first on the cold, hard floor. 

Taeyong took that moment to claim the bed. Yuta quickly stood up and also tried to get on the bed, but Taeyong wouldn’t allow it. Every time Yuta got close, he would kick at him. Many bruises later, Yuta sat on the floor in defeat, glaring up at the smirking man.

“Here.” Taeyong threw a pillow non-too-gently at Yuta. “Now sleep.”

Throwing his hands up in the air at the unfairness of it all, Yuta demanded, “Where’s my blanket?”

“You’re lucky you get a pillow,” Taeyong mocked as he lied down to get comfortable. Yuta turned off the light before following his example, fluffing up the pillow before lying his head down.

After minutes of silence, Taeyong spoke up, “By the way. You said your father’s name is Sehun…?”

Taken aback by the question, Yuta answered, “Yea…? Why?”

“He’s human?” 

“Yea?”

“Huh.”

“Why?”

Yuta could imagine Taeyong shrugging his shoulders and ignoring his question, but to his surprise he actually answered. “Sehun, that was the name of one of the 12 great EXO vampires early in this era, but during the Exodus War, he was killed but we could never find his body.”

What did this guy have to do with Yuta’s Sehun?

“He was my father’s younger brother. I never got to meet my uncle, but my dad said he was a brave guy and proud to call him his brother. He was actually the youngest of the 12. You actually know and have met some of the 12. My father, Jongin, was one. Kris, the King here, was one of the older members. Yixing, the healer we always talk about, was also part of EXO. Jongdae, Jaehyun’s father and my father’s oldest brother was another one.”

Yuta interrupted Taeyong’s spiel, “Wait, if Jongdae’s older, why isn’t he King?”

Taeyong quickly answered, a bit annoyed at Yuta’s intervention, “Jongdae never wanted to be King, so he passed the crown on to my father.”

“Ah. Makes sense,” Yuta muttered quietly.

“Let’s see, Luhan and Tao were from the Chinese kingdom, too, but they were killed along with Sehun. Minseok and Junmyeon are others from my kingdom, and they’ll be the ones in charge of training you over the next couple months. And then that leaves… Ah. Nevermind.” Taeyong had only mentioned 10 of the 12, and Yuta was curious.

“And the other two?” 

Taeyong hesitated before speaking. “I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but you can’t mention this to your prince friend or else I’ll kill you.”

“Hmm. Ok.”

“King Baekhyun… Is actually a vampire,” Taeyong whispered just loud enough for Yuta to hear.

Yuta immediately bolted up into a sitting position and yelled, “WHAT?”

“Shut up! They’ll hear you!” he hissed through clenched teeth.

“Then how was Taeil human? That’s not possible!” Yuta felt like he had been thrown through a loop; his mind reeling. Was Taeil a vampire but never told him? Or was Taeil also unaware?

“Taeil was conceived before King Baekhyun decided to turn. Remember, Taeil is a year older than you and two older than me, so the King decided to turn at the very last second before the war began,” Taeyong explained.

“Why is everything so complicated?” Yuta asked more for himself than Taeyong.

Taeyong concluded the list, “And the last member was his lover, Chanyeol.” 

“Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. King Baekhyun’s lover? But he’s married to Queen Taeyeon? Are you saying he was cheating on her?” There were so many questions Yuta needed answered.

“How I understand it is that his marriage to the Queen was only for political reasons with no feelings attached. The Queen was well aware of his relationship with Chanyeol, so no. There was no cheating involved. But anyways.”

“Chanyeol was the only other human-turned-vampire in EXO. His death was the most tragic; just hearing about it is... It’s also the reason why King Baekhyun refuses to keep in contact with my father.” Taeyong took a deep breath before telling the tale.

“At the end of the war, the members didn’t realize it until it was too late, but a demon had drained all the blood from Chanyeol’s body. He was in the middle of transforming when Baekhyun found him, my father also with him. King Jongin wanted immediately to kill him so they didn’t have another demon to worry about, but King Baekhyun absolutely refused, attempting to protect the unconscious boy from my father’s killer intentions, in hope they could somehow save him. However, Jongin being the strongest of EXO, easily threw Baekhyun off and put a stake through his heart, instantly killing him. To this day, King Baekhyun doesn’t speak of the incident or of King Jongin.”

Taeyong couldn’t see the gesture, but Yuta covered his mouth with his hand in shock, a tear slipping from his eye. He had known King Baekhyun for years; he was also as much as a father to him that Sehun was. Knowing he had this kind of a history made his heart ache. Yuta felt like everything he had ever known about the world was being stripped from his eyes. What would Taeil say if he knew? A new ache throbbed in his heart.

“So to answer your question, I was shocked to hear my uncle’s name because of what I just explained to you. However, the fact that he’s human throws my concern out the window. Unless, like King Baekhyun, he’s using the pills, but that’s very unlikely.”

Yuta had no doubt in his mind that Sehun was human. That was certain.

Taeyong must have drifted off to sleep because no more was said. After an hour of trying to find sleep, Yuta gave up; he was shivering from the cold ground and would do anything for some warmth. 

He peeked at the bed where Taeyong laid, his back to him. Yuta quietly stood up and tiptoed to the edge of the bed. Slowly and very carefully, he lifted the covers and slipped into bed. Luckily Taeyong had gravitated more to the other side, which allowed enough room for him to have some space. 

Yuta froze when he felt Taeyong shift. The prince flipped sides and was now facing Yuta, so he turned his back to the vampire. After more shifting, Taeyong’s front molded itself to Yuta’s back, becoming his big spoon. Yuta didn’t dare to breathe, afraid of waking the other. He’s sure Taeyong wouldn’t appreciate the intimate position they were currently in. 

Still shivering a bit, not yet recovered from the cold, Yuta leaned more into Taeyong for warmth, not that vampires had that much warmth to give, but it was better than the freezing cold floor. Taeyong shifted again, but this time it was to wrap an arm around Yuta’s waist, pulling him even closer if that was possible. 

Was he awake or was he moving unconsciously? Yuta would never find out. The warmth turned into comfort, which then became drowsiness. Soon enough, Yuta found himself falling asleep in the arms of his prince.

 

“Yuta! Wake up! You’re going to be late!”

Yuta stirred; sleep still overtaking his consciousness. 

“Yuta!” Hands were now shaking him awake.

“What the hell?” He rubbed his eyes and cracked them open to see a crazy-eyed Taeil standing over him. 

“They’re already leaving! You’re lucky I came up here to find you!” Yuta cocked his head in confusion, not fully comprehending.

Leaving? Leaving. LEAVING??? 

Yuta sat up in a rush, joints cracking from disuse. “THAT FUCKER!”  
“Yes, that fucker is leaving right now along with everyone else, so hurry up!” Taeil yelled as he left the room.

The piece of shit didn’t wake him up! And now he’s just going to go off without him! Was this punishment for sleeping in the bed? Hell if Yuta cared.

In a flurry of movement, Yuta threw everything into his bag, straightened the clothes he was still wearing from the day before, and ran out the door. What a great way to start the day. 

He was still very tired, not having slept very well. Once again, he had his red eyes dream. It was concerning him that he was having his nightmare so often. Never had it occurred this much in so little time. 

The group was just leaving the stables when Yuta arrived. Taeil must have saddled up his horse so he could easily catch up to them, which he did. He rode past the members until he got to his position.

Taeyong looked back when he heard Yuta’s horse approach from behind. Their eyes met and Taeyong’s mouth formed into his traditional smirk. Yuta glared and mouthed, “fuck you,” with a raised middle finger. Taeyong’s smirk disappeared as he glared back. 

Jaehyun disrupted them from their glaring contest, “So, I’m assuming things between you and Taeyong went pretty well last night judging from the way I found you two this morning.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. You guys were spooning and Taeyong even had his arm wrapped around you.” Jaehyun wiggled his eyebrows. “Is there something you two need to tell us?”

Yuta could feel his face turn red from embarrassment but didn’t want Jaehyun to have all the fun. “Things went just as well as it probably did for you two last night. I mean you were so desperate to have Doyoung all to yourself,” Yuta shot back.

Jaehyun smiled innocently, but Doyoung was a deeper shade of red than Yuta was previously. Doyoung was never good at hiding things. “So are you two a couple now or what?” Neither Doyoung nor Jaehyun would meet his eye, not sure what to say in front of the other. It’s fine though, because he’d just get Doyoung to spill the beans later.

 

The two days passed pretty quickly without any incidences. It was evident that Doyoung and Jaehyun weren’t the only couple hitting it off. Johnny and Ten were becoming like Tom and Jerry. Johnny was no longer the only one initiating the teasing; Ten was enjoying it just as much. 

There were a couple times Yuta thought they were getting attacked from the sound of Ten’s squeals, but it was only Johnny spraying Ten with water from his bottle he had filled as an extra for Yuta. So much for that, not that Yuta really minded. He liked seeing his friends smiling and getting along with the vampires. 

Doyoung and Hansol were pretty quiet, Doyoung leaving a snarky comment here and there. Sicheng and Kun were in the very back, talking amongst each other, keeping entertained from Johnny and Ten’s teasing that was right in front of them.

A lot of the ride Yuta sifted through everything he had learned since that first day at the vampire castle. It’s amazing how drastically his life changed from training and taking on random missions to becoming a member of the vampire society. He was still befuddled and disappointed about not being able to become a vampire. There must be some reason, but for now there was no solution to be heard of. 

If Yuta wasn’t thinking about his life changing experiences, his mind was centered on a certain silver-haired prince. What exactly were they? And why did he feel so strongly towards him? It was infuriating, not being able to control your feelings… or more importantly your dick. 

Time passed and soon Yuta found himself riding through the castle gates, into the stables, and finally into his own room, where he crashed on his bed and didn’t move from that same spot, having instantly fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.


End file.
